The White Wings of Darkness
by Ryu Redwings
Summary: Kiba and Akumaru find a girl who is totally alone in the world. As she makes her way in the Leaf Village, she leaves questions and surprise in her wake. As she touches the lives of those around her will the darkness of her past come to haunt her again?
1. Lost And All That Implies

**Lost, And All That Implies**

**"G**rrrrarf! Arf! Arf!"

"Nn..."

Kiba very slowly opened his eyes and tried to move his throbbing head. He knew the pressure and weight that was sitting on his chest was Akumaru, but he felt compelled to look at him. A blurry tan blob met his tired eyes.

"W... What is it Akumaru...?" he said, his voice husky.

Good God, he really wish he hadn't gone to that party last night. The party hadn't been bad, it was the blasted drinking contest he gotten into with Naruto that mad it seem bad. Who could have so many shots of this and that and so on... Now he was paying for his stupidity through the hangover from hell. Although he didn't regret it that much; it was worth seeing Naruto fall over and not be able to get up for a while.

A whine from Akumaru told him what was wrong, and he had to drag himself out of the mangled bed covers to open the door for the puppy. As he opened the back door (or what he hoped was the back door) he mumbled, "Try not to wander away..."

He left the door open by just a crack so he could get back in, and then looked at the clock. It read 5 am. He managed to look back at the door a bit incredulously then walked over to the refridgerator and took out a bottle of water. He took it back to his room, and, after taking a swig, flopped down on his bed again. Light snores were then the only signs of life from the boy.

Outside, Akumaru, given the chance, began to do what puppies do when they're let outside. He finished what he had to then started to run around the yard, finding what he could to entertain himself. A breeze blew by as he chewed on a ball, and he stopped to sniff the air. Something...was in it... He just couldn't figure out what.

He sniffed a bit more then decided to follow the new scent. He knew Kiba had told him not to wander off, but something bothered him about this scent and he intended to find out what it was.



**A**bout an hour later and two miles away from the village, a girl with ragged dark blonde hair in a messy pony tail and bright brown eyes stood looking very confused at a map in her hands. A green, curved triangle lying on it's side with two dots above the curve was under her right eye. She was standing at where the road split into three others, one continuing straight, the other two going in varying directions of right. She looked from the map to the roads, then back again.

"I can't believe this!" she finally shouted, venting her frustration. "He said to take the road on the right, but there are two roads on the right! Even then, he hadn't been back to the village in over eighteen years! Didn't he think that they might of changed the roads or something!"

She looked back at the map.

"And this map doesn't tell me anything!" She took a moment to inspect it more. "How old is this thing anyway?"

She looked at each corner and then found the date. It read 5/18/90. _Oh my God, this thing's older then I am,_ she thought. She balled the map up and stuffed it in her pocket. She then sat down on the road, facing the two right roads.

After a few minutes of thought, she got the map out again, found the road she was on and began to study it. Even if it was useless, she might get a clue as to where this Leaf Village was. Leaves... That had to mean forest, right? She followed the road that she was on on the map with her finger and watched as it curved around a wide breach of forest.

She then took a look at another road that did the same thing but on the opposite side of the forest. The two roads seemed to form a kind of oval around that particular area of forest. So, if her guess was right, that was probably where the village was. Unless one of the two roads she was facing went directly through that area of forest. She sighed. It was a nice thought; too bad she had to murder her own reason. She looked back at the map, hoping to find more clues. The girl let out a small shriek and jumped a few inches away from the tan creature that had suddenly appeared next to her. She looked at the puppy in shock.

"Well," she said to both herself and it. "Where did you come from?"

The puppy came closer and sniffed her hand, and she took the moment to look at him more closely. He was obviously domesticated or else he wouldn't be so close to her or smelling her so fervently. She put a hand on it's head and scratched it behind the ears. Oh yeah, it was domesticated alright; it proved it was by rolling over onto it's back and whining for her to rub it's small tummy. She giggled as she obliged.

It was a really cute puppy. The girl wondered who it belonged to.

"So," she asked, half jokingly. "Do you know where the Leaf Village is?"

The puppy rolled back over onto it's feet and barked. She was a bit surprised at the answer. She knew a bit of animal language, both by sound and body movement.

"Really? Do you think you can show me the way? I have directions and a map, but none of them are helping. Can you help me?"

The puppy growled then proceeded to scamper down the road that went straight. It went a little ways down the path then turned around to look back at her. A sharp bark told her to follow. The girl got up from where she was sitting and walked over to the puppy.

"So, this is the road to the Leaf Village?" she asked, just to make sure.

"Arf!"

"Okay. What did you say your name was?"

"Grrrarf!"

"Akumaru, huh? That's a nice name."

The girl looked down the road, measuring the distance for what she could see. She looked down at the small puppy that stood next to her.

"Do you want me to carry you? It would be kinda hard for you to walk at my pace."

Akumaru barked a reply, and she picked him up, prepared to carry him in her arms. But as soon as she did, he scrambled up onto her shoulder and then on top of her head. She hesitated before she started walking.

"Are you sure you want to travel like that?"

"Ruff!"

The girl shrugged as she readied her chakra and then sent it down to her feet and calves. Akumaru yipped in surprise as he found them floating and then quickly moving forward down the road to the Leaf Village.



**K**iba found himself being drug from sleep again by Shino's voice calling outside along with Hinata's.

"Hey! Kiba! Wake up already!"

He practically fell out of bed then stumbled to the open window.

"What?!" he called hoarsely to them, looking at the two in the street. Why in the world were they here?

"You weren't at the training sight so we decided that we should come get you!" Hinata said in explanation. "Did you just wake up?"

Kiba nodded, his head pounding along with his movement.

"Give me a sec! I'll be right down!" he told them.

He tripped over to his discarded clothing, and quickly threw them on. He grabbed his water before heading downstairs. He opened the door, squinting in the bright light of morning.

"What time is it?" he asked, his voice still slightly rough from sleep.

"It's eight-thirty," said Shino. Kiba didn't have to try and look past the sunglasses to see that he wasn't pleased to be here.

Hinata looked at him, worry tracing her features.

"Are you okay? You don't look so good." she said.

"Uh..."

"You have a hangover from last night, don't you?" Shino said shrewdly.

He gently nodded his head. Hinata looked at Shino in question.

"Hangover?" She then looked at Kiba.

"How bad is it?"

"Uh... Pretty...bad. I feel like hell."

"Do you think you can train?" Shino asked. Kiba turned from the front door to the inside of the house, holding a hand up in casualness.

"Yeah," he said. "I just need to get Akumaru."

He walked over to the back and opened the door. He looked the yard over, searching for the puppy. He didn't see him anywhere.

"Akumaru?" he called as he walked down the two steps.

He started looking around the yard; under bushes, behind the fence, in the wood pile. Kiba bit his lip. _I told him not to go anywhere!_ he thought anxiously. He sniffed the air to see if he was close by. Nothing, not even a hint of the puppy. He nervously tapped his foot tryng not to panic. Akumaru had never wandered so far that he couldn't pick up his scent.

"Kiba? Is everything alright?" Hinata called.

"Uh... We'll see!" he called back, his voice unsure.

He could do one final thing to try and locate the puppy. He gathered some of his chakra and then sent a pulse out, searching for Akumaru. His small search chakra had a radius of half a mile. He didn't feel a thing coming back that felt like Akumaru. Kiba's panic then found an outlet in his voice.

"GAAAH!!"

He flew to the front of the house, flipping out completely.

"He's gone!!" he cried. "I can't find him anywhere! I'm going to have to look for him right now!"

"Do you want us to tell Kurenai-sensei what happened?" Shino asked as Kiba shoved his shoes on.

"Yeah! But tell her I'll be there. I promise!" he said as he stood up.

He then took off down the road, leaving Hinata and Shino standing at his open door. As he ran, he decided to stay relatively close to the forest; if anything that was probably where the puppy headed. _Probably smelled something and decided to go after it,_ he thought both anxious and angry. He told him not wander off! Where in the world could he be now?!


	2. Finding the Unexpected

**Finding the Unexpected**

**A**kumaru sniffed the warm morning air as they passed the open food stalls. Delicious smells wafted past both his and the girl's nose, making him whine and her stomach growl. He looked down at the girl from his position on top of her head. She had stopped and was counting some money in her hands. She moved her head to try and look up at him the best she could.

"Are you hungry?" she asked.

"Ruff!"

She walked over to a stall and ordered some pork fried rice along with a bottle of water. She asked for two bowls and a spoon, then, after paying, walked over to a bench to eat. Akumaru jumped off her head and sat next to her. The girl poured him some water first, then dug out some pork from the rice to give to him. The two happily munched on their breakfast as they watched the morning crowd go by.

The girl watched as a few kids her age went by; one blonde girl, and two boys, one having black hair and the other having hair of a reddish hue and marks on his cheeks. The one with black hair paused for a second to look at her and she got a better look at him. His hair was a bit spiky and he was a little on the skinny side, to her anyway. A call from one of the others sent him away from her view. A bump into her arm told her that Akumaru was finished. She looked down at him as the puppy panted happily.

She patted him on the head.

"By the way, you wouldn't happen to know where the Akihara's live, do you?" she asked. The puppy shook his head.

The girl sighed. "Figures. I get to one place but then hit another wall."

She stood up, and looked down at him. "So, ready to look for your owner?"

"Arf!"

He jumped off the bench and sniffed the air. He could tell he wasn't at the training sight, but then where else could he be? He then caught his scent. It was the normal Kiba, but panicked and annoyed. He whined; he knew exactly why he was running around.

He motioned the girl in the direction they had to go and she picked him up. The girl was expecting him to climb onto her head again, but he seemed to be content to be carried in her arms this time.



**K**iba sat down on a low cement wall with a tired sigh. He had been running around in circles for an hour now, or so the clock tower in front of him claimed. He scanned the crowd, looking for any sign of something furry and tan. _I'm so going to make him regret doing this,_ he thought sourly. His stomach gave an upset growl for not being full of anything but water and Tylenol. The restaurant district wasn't too far from here. He patted a few pockets to see if he had any money. Suddenly, a familiar scent hit his nostrils. He quickly looked up and around for the puppy.

"Ruff! Arf!"

He saw Akumaru making a wild dash between a number of people's legs. The puppy stopped directly at his feet.

"Akumaru!" Kiba said, relieved and happy that he had found him. He picked him up but then quickly put him back down, remembering he was supposed to be angry with him as his face grew stern.

"Akumaru, I told you not to wander off! I've been looking everywhere for you! Now we're both late for training," he scolded. The puppy whined his forgiveness.

"Where did you go anyway?" he asked. Blue sandals suddenly met his eyes as they stopped next to Akumaru.

"So this is your owner," said a girl's voice.

He looked up and saw a girl about his age with dark blonde hair and brown eyes. A green, curved triangle with two dots above it was tatooed under her right eye. She was smiling at him. He straightened up to look at her more fully. She had khaki shorts on with lots of pockets and black fishnet knee-highs. A see-through, flesh colored shirt with red swirls all over it and a black tank top over it was what she had on top. She smelled like a forest, and fresh air, and...something else. Some shadow of a scent teased his senses, but as soon as he came close to naming it, it would dissappear.

"And you are?" he asked, a bit surprised at his own bluntness.

"Ryu Akihara," the girl answered. "You?"

"Kiba Inukaza," he said. He petted Akumaru. "Thanks for finding him. I had no idea where he went this morning."

Ryu laughed. "Actually, he found me!" she said. "I got lost on my way to the village, and he found me while I was looking at a map. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here right now."

He looked at her, suspicion biting at the back of his mind. She had been looking for the village? Where did she come from then? Akumaru hadn't warned him about anything about her.

"Why were you looking for the village?" he asked, voicing one of his questions.

"I'm looking for some relations," she said. "My grandparents in fact."

Now he was puzzled. "You don't know where your grandparents live?"

Ryu smiled, a bit embarassed. "Uh...yeah. My dad didn't really have any contact with them. None really." she said, scratching the back of her neck as she did.

"So I have no idea where they live because of that or even if they're still alive."

Kiba looked at Akumaru. The puppy cocked his head while conveying a suggestion. He looked back at Ryu.

"You said your last name was Akihara?" he asked.

She nodded her head. Kiba got up from where he was sitting and found Ryu was about as tall as he was. He then looked down at Akumaru.

"Well, do you want to help her a little more?" he asked the puppy.

"Arf!"

"Help?" Ryu asked, looking puzzled. "With what?"

"Finding your grandparents of course!" said Kiba. She blinked.

"But... You don't really..."

He gave her a leveled look.

"Listen. This village is huge. It'll take you weeks to find your grandparents if you don't know where to look." he said. Ryu's look of puzzlement vanished as she smiled.

"Thanks!" she said. "I appreciate it! But, do you know where to start?"

Kiba looked around the square they were in. He pointed at a building.

"The post office. If they still live here, they'll have records of where they are." he said. Ryu's mouth formed a small "o" in understanding.

Akumaru took his normal position on top of Kiba's head and they walked over to the post office. When they walked inside, they found it was a bit of a madhouse. Messengers were running around every which way, picking up scrolls, letters, and packages. Receivers at desks were shouting at different messengers; some blatantly argued with others on who had to take what route and when to go. Papers were everywhere as well as open and discarded scrolls.

Kiba looked around, wondering as to who they were supposed to take to. he then motioned Ryu to join him in a line that was for mailing things out. When they got to the desk, the receiver told them to go to records, and pointed at a desk which had a young woman seated behind it as well as several very large and fat scrolls hanging behind her. They walked over to the records receiver, who looked at one young person to the other. Kiba took the initiative as Ryu hesitated to talk.

"We're looking for where the Akiharas live," he told her. She got up and pulled one of the scrolls open, revealing thousands of names on just one.

It took her a moment to find the section she was looking for. "I have four different Akiharas on file. Do you have their first names?" she asked while keeping a finger above the first Akihara. Kiba looked at Ryu.

"Kahn and Jin." she said. The woman looked back at the scroll.

"I've got them... Oh."

The receiver looked at little troubled as she looked back at them.

"What is it?" Ryu asked.

"That area was destroyed during the Sound invasion."

Her face fell at this news. Kiba couldn't help but notice the aura of ebergy he had felt around her dided down. Her eyes had lost a bit of their light as well. Akumaru whined in her direction.

"Oh..." was all she could say. "Thankyou..."

She turned and walked out of the post office. Kiba followed her outside and stood next to her as she took a moment. Akumaru jumped down from his head and pawed at her calf, whining sympathy and comfort. Ryu looked down at him and kneeled down to pet him.

"Thanks Akumaru, but I'll be okay. This may sound cruel, but I didn't really know them anyway," she said to him.

"Sorry Ryu," said Kiba, feeling as if he should say something.

She stood up. "It's okay. I'll just have to find somewhere else to stay."

"How are you going to tell your parents?"

Ryu looked at him with a mixture of surprise and blankness on her face.

"But that's why I'm here," she said. "My parents are dead."

He looked at her in shock. "So you came here...?"

"Yup," she said as she nodded her head. "But now that I think about it, I don't think they would have taken me in anyway."

"Is there anyone else you can got to?"

She shook her head. "Everyone else is dead."

Kiba didn't really know what to say at this point. The both of them stood in silence as the crowd went by. The clock chimed ten times, announcing to him that he was an hour late for training. The light worry of sensei killing him passed through his brain as he continued to dwell on Ryu's situation. She sighed and turned to him.

"Well, Kiba, thanks for helping me," she said. She gave Akumaru a final pat.

"And thank you for helping me get here," she said to him.

She started to walked away.

"Wait," he said. "Where are you going to go now?"

She stopped and looked back at him.

"I don't know," she said. "I guess I'll hang around here for a while, then... start traveling again."

"But where will you stay?" he asked. Akumaru trotted ahead, and pawed at her knees again.

"I'll find some place," she said as she gently placed the puppy back on all four of his paws. She smiled at Kiba.

"Thanks again," she said before she started walking.

A jolt of complete and pure impulse went through him as he watched her walking away again.

"Ryu!" he called to her. "You can stay with me!"

The girl stopped dead and spun around.

"I can what?!" she shouted to him, for she was a fast walker and was already quite a few feet away from him.

"You can stay with me!" he shouted to her again. She ran back to him.

She looked at him once she did get back to him, disbeleif and a little mistrust on her face.

"You're serious?" she asked, her tone dubious.

"Completely!" he said. He looked down at Akumoaru, who barked his approval and enthusiasm.

"But you don't even know me!" she said, exasperated at his generosity

"Akumaru trusts you," he said. "That's enough for me."

She looked down at Akumaru. "Do you really trust me?" she asked the puppy.

"Ruff!"

She looked from him to the dog and back again. She then smiled at him, a large, goofy kind of smile that he hadn't seen on her face yet.

"Okay! I'll stay with you!" she said. Akumaru barked while running laps around her feet.

She bent down and picked him up, giving the puppy a quick hug. She looked at Kiba, traces of the grin still on her lips.

"Thank you so much! You helped me out a lot!" she said gratefully. "But I don't know how I'm going to repay you or anything..."

He shook his head as she put Akumaru back down. "Don't let it bother you. I want to help."

"Arf!"

He looked at him. "What?"  
"Arf!"

"Oh!" He quickly picked the puppy up, his eyes wide with panic.

"I've got to get to training!" he said to Ryu. "There's no time to take you to the house so you'll have to come with me."

He ran off a little. "We'll have to get there soon! Follow me!" he called to her.

He started running and she followed him, quickly catching up. As they ran, she saw they were moving away from the inner part of the village to the outskirts where the shops and buildings were replaced by grass and forest. He lead her down a beaten dirt path and they came to the training area, Shino and Hinata were already going at it while Kurenai supervised. She turned as she heard their approach.

"Why are you so late?" she asked before Kiba had a chance to speak. She looked at Ryu. "And who is this?"

"Part of the reason why I'm late," he said. He then looked at Ryu. "Should you explain or should I?"

She shrugged. "She's your teacher."

He took a breath before starting.

"Okay. So this morning I let Akumaru out and then when I went back to get him, he wasn't there anymore. So I went to look for him. What I didn't know was that he had wandered into the forest and had met Ryu, who had gotten lost on the way here. He helped her get to the village and then they found me while I was running around looking for them." he explained. He took another breath as Ryu jumped in.

"After I met Kiba, I told him I came here looking for my grandparents." she continued. "He wanted to help so we went to the post office to find out where they live. That's where I found out that my grandparents are dead and that I didn't have anywhere to stay while I'm in town. I was about to run off and start traveling again, but then Kiba said I could stay with him. Then we came here because he was late enough already."

She finished and Kurenai looked at her for a moment before turning to Kiba.

"Start working with Hinata and Shino," She said to him, and as he jogged over to the two, he heard her ask Ryu, "What's your name?"

"Ryu. Ryu Akihara."

She bent down a little to look at her face. From her expression, it looked like she was trying to figure something out.

"Can you smile for me?" she asked suddenly. Ryu thought this was a strange request, but did it anyway.

Kurenia's eyes widened as she murmured, "Oh my God,"

"What?"

She straightened up. "Is your father's name Tetsu?"

She nodded. Kurenai turned around to face her students.

"Stay here," she told them. "I've got to take of something."

She looked then looked at Ryu. "You stay here as well, and go home with Kiba."

The four young people watched as the women walked, equally puzzled as to what she suddenly had to do. Ryu looked back at Kiba, who shrugged at her perplexed expression. Hinata, who stood next to Shino, thought she felt a rise in heated energy around him. She looked at him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"There's something she's not telling us," he said, a hint of anger in his voice. "And it has something to do with that girl."

She looked back at Ryu, who stared back at her. She flinched shyly at her gaze. Ryu then sat on the ground, prepared to watch as the students began to train in whichever way they were best suited for. Though she wondered what was so important that the woman had to do.


	3. Falling' Out Of Windows

** 'Falling' Out Of Windows**

**T**he next morning brought a bright and warm day, Kiba waking up at around seven a.m. He started making his breakfast after putting Akumaru outside, and then his shuffling thoughts landed on Ryu. Maybe he should wake her up now before he left for training that way she wouldn't go without breakfast. He climbed upstairs and knocked on the spare room's door.

"Ryu, are you awake?" he asked. He waited a moment before opening the door, and poking his head in.

The extended lump that was under the covers proved that she was still asleep, and he walked over to her. He gently shook her.

"Hey, Ryu!" he said as he did. "Wake up."

A small moan came from her as she rolled over. He shook her again, and nothing came from her. He called her name a few more times, and, in venting his frustration, shook her a bit more roughly. The only thing this produced was Ryu burrowing deeper into her covers. A knocking from downstairs saved her from Kiba beating her over the head with a pillow.

He went downstairs and opened the door, restraining a yelp when Kurenai-sensei was there.

"Sensei? Why are you here?" he asked. "Training doesn't start for another hour."

"We're starting late today," she explained. "Is Ryu awake?"

"No. That's what I was just working on," he said.

"Can I help?"

"Sure."

She walked in and he lead her upstairs. She watched Ryu sleep for a moment before kneeling down to look into her face. She reached over and opened one of her eyes.

"Huh," she said after putting it back down.

"What?" he asked. "Is something wrong?"

"No," she said. "But... Either she's an extremely heavy sleeper or she's in a coma..."

Kiba thought for a moment while Kurenai investigated a spray bottle in the room. He looked at his teacher.

"I think I've got it! Wait here," he said before running downstairs.

He went outside and found Akumaru. He then went back upstairs and placed the puppy on the bed. The puppy looked at him in question, and he motioned to him to do something to Ryu. Akumaru walked over to her face and started to bark. She moved the covers over her head while moaning.

Akumaru, not one to be defeated so easily, crawled under the covers, and started to bark at her from there. This went on for a few minutes. Kiba folded his arms, trying to think of another way to wake her up. The puppy climbed out from under the covers and went to sit at the other end of the bed. Kurenai picked up the spray bottle and turned to Kiba.

"What's in this?" she asked.

"Water."

"Oh, good."

She moved the covers off of Ryu's head and sprayed. Ryu immediately shrieked and sprang up onto the bed. She, seeing the spray bottle, quickly snatched it from Kurenai' s hands and sprayed her back.

"What's the big idea, waking me up like that?!" she said, not sounding too happy.

"Well, you wouldn't wake up through normal means so we had to improvise," said Kiba's teacher, completely calm as she brushed the mist from her hair. Ryu sat back down on the bed, Kurenai's cool soothing her temper.

"Oh, sorry," she said. "I sleep like the dead. It used to take my mom forever to wake me up."

"Now that you are," said Kurenai. "I need you to get dressed and come with me."

"Why?" both Kiba and Ryu asked at the same time. They looked at one another.

"You need to meet someone," she answered. She walked out of the room. Ryu looked at Kiba.

"Who do you think she wants me to meet?" she asked him. He shrugged as he picked Akumaru up off the bed.

"There are lots of people to meet in the Leaf Village," he said. Ryu folded her arms, almost pouting.

"That's not an answer and you know it," she said. He smiled at her, the points of his canines almost breaking through.

He then left the room for her to get dressed. He got downstairs to find his sensei inspecting the contents of his refridgerator. She looked back at him.

"I haven't eaten. Do you mind?" she asked him.

"Uh... I guess not..." he said, not exactly sure what to say about his teacher rummaging through his fridge.

Ryu came downstairs and joined her in looking for food. She found some yogurt and then turned around to face Kiba.

"Is it okay if I eat this?" she asked.

"Depends. Is it rasberry or strawberry?"

"It's... Rasberry."

"You can eat it. The spoons are in there."

Kurenai made toast as Ryu ate her yogurt, and Kiba munched at his cereal that had become a little soggy from the time spent waking Ryu up. His teacher finished before everyone, and quickly got Ryu out of her seat.

"We have to go now," she said. "It's not polite to keep people waiting!"

"But I'm not done yet!" Ryu protested as she fumbled for her nearly finished yogurt.

They left anyway, Kurenai ignoring Ryu's arguments and Kiba wondering what exactly his teacher was so worked up about. Kurenai lead Ryu through the morning crowd, making sure to keep her close so she wouldn't get lost. Which wasn't so easy as the girl was easily distracted by the new surroundings and people they passed. They stopped at a tall, tan building with symbols written in red on the front. Kurenai took her inside and she talked breifly to a person behind a desk while Ryu took in her new surroundings.

She then beckoned to the girl to follow her up some stairs. She ran over to her and they started to climb.

"What kind of place is this?" Ryu asked. "There are so many different ninjas here."

"This is where the hokage is when he deals with village business," she said. "We're here to talk about you."

"Oh... So, we're- Wait a second! What?!"

She didn't have a chance as Kurenai nudged her through the door and found herself in a brown room facing an old man behind a desk. He wore the unique red and white hat of the hokage. Four other ninjas were in the room, about the same age as Kurenai. Or so she guessed, but she wasn't so sure about the guy with silver hair and the ninja headband over one of his eyes. She gulped as she was frozen in front of the leader of the village.

"So," said one of the ninjas, who had shiny black hair in a bowl cut. "What's so important that we all had to be here? And who's the girl you brought with you?"

"This," said Kurenai, gesturing to Ryu. "Is Ryu Akihara, the daughter of Tetsu Akihara."

About everyone in the room except for the hokage seemed more awake now. The man with the bowl cut seemed thoroughly surprised. The one with silver hair cocked his head at her and came closer to her. He bent down to look into her face. Ryu tried not to fidget.

"Uh-huh," he said, his voice even and laidback. "That's Tetsu alright. I'd recognize that face anywhere."

He straightened up. "I knew your dad when he was your age. We grew up together."

"Me too!" the man with the bowl cut chimed in. "Maybe he told you about us. This is Kakashi,"

He gestured to the ninja with silver hair in front of her. He then jerked his thumb back at himself.

"And I'm Guy," he said. He then gave her a big smile.

Ryu guessed he was trying to be friendly, but she hated to admit all he had accomplished was proving that he was crazy. His movements were jerky and animated, something she herself was prone to look like, but he made it seem... slightly strange. She liked Kakashi though. He seemed slightly more normal, and she liked his voice. Now that she thought of it, their names did ring a few bells. She looked up at Kurenai.

"Did you know my dad?" she asked her. She shook her head.

"No. Tetsu was a bit too wild for my taste." she said. Kurenai looked over at Asuma.

"What about you?"

Asuma shook his head. "We didn't get along too well. I thought he was nuts and he thought the same of me."

Ryu looked at Guy and Kakashi. "Well, now that I think of it, I think my dad did tell me about you." she said. "I think he said something about you and Kakashi being rivals or something like that. He always had to try and calm you down."

This she said to Guy while pointing a finger. He seemed a bit uncomfortable at this news.

"If I remember right," said Kakashi. "It was us who always had to calm Tetsu down. He was a character. Until he met Shana that is."

Guy laughed. "I remember that! It was as if she hit a magic button when they met and he became almost normal. He was actually able to sit still through an entire lesson after they started seeing each other."

The hokage cleared his throat and everyone became still. He looked straight at Ryu.

"So, Ms. Akihara, what has brung you to the Leaf Village?" he asked. "Tetsu's parents disowned him after he married your mother since she was from the Sound Village, yes?"

Ryu nodded her head. "I came here because I had nowhere else to go," she said. She bit her lip as she looked over at Kakashi and Guy. "You see, both my parents are dead so I came here to see if my grandparents would take me in."

After hearing this the room became energized as Guy burst out in questions.

"Tetsu's dead?!" he exclaimed. "When? How?"

Ryu hesitated before answering. She hated answering qustions like this. All it did was dredge up bad memories of greif and terror.

"He... He was attacked by a tiger. And he died from his injuries." she said. A hollow feeling welled up in her chest as she remembered the rest.

"He actually died... six years ago."

Guy became silent and leaned against the wall as the hokage continued his questions.

"And your mother?" he asked. Ryu bit her lip. This was even harder.

"She..."

More memories that made her want to retch clawed up her throat. She folded her arms to hide that she was holding herself. Old scars on her legs and arms burned in remembered pain.

"She died from a snake bite," she said quickly before her voice decided to leave. The hokage leaned forward, folding his hands.

"Did your mother or your father teach you ninjutsu?"

She was able to recover some of her composure now. Thinking about her lessons always steadied her.

"They both taught me everything they knew," she answered. He nodded.

"Good. As much as an academy might of taught you?"

She nodded her head. "My dad kept journals of his academy years, so he taught me from them. I learned everything he learned here, and then some."

The hokage cocked his head. "And then some?"

"Uh-huh. The Akihara jutsus."

"Ah. Very good."

He looked at the teachers and around him and beckoned all of them to come closer to him. As they started to talk amongst each other with the hokage, Ryu found herself ignored. She started to wander around the room, looking at the different pictures of the past hokages. She paused at a picture of the Third Hokage. She had heard about what happened to him. She shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. She then walked over to some plants next to the window. She looked up at Guy, who had broken off from the group to stand next to her.

"Ryu," he said. "Do you think you could stand right here?"

He gestured toward a spot in front of the open window. She blinked at him in question, but then did as she was asked.

"Right here?" she said, pointing at the floor at her feet.

"Yes, there."

His attention was suddenly taken by something out the window.

"Hey! What's that?!" he said, pointing out the window.

Always curious, Ryu quickly whirled around and leanded out the window a bit to try and see what he was pointing at.

"What? Where?"

Guy then pushed her out the window with a quick shove. Kurenai had turned just in time to see him do it.

"Guy?! What did you just do?!" she shouted. He looked at her, completely calm.

"I was just testing-"

"But she might not know that jutsu yet!! Are you crazy?!"

Ryu then appeared at the window, whisps of white cloud trailing off her wrists and ankles. She stood there, floating at the third story window, and she was not happy. Guy's back was to her, and she quickly smacked the back of his head.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" she screamed at him, her eyes gleaming ferociously. "You could of killed me!!!"

"But I didn't," he said smugly while rubbing the back of his inflicted head. "You know that jutsu so that means you're already pretty good at wind control."

This only seemed to enrage the girl even more. Ryu's eyes turned a violent shade of purple as she started to scream offenses at him. The teachers and hokage stood there until the hokage decided to step in.

"Ryu!"

She snapped out of her temper to look at him. "Yes?"

"Do you wish to stay in the village?"

She nodded her head.

"Do you want to continue your training?"

She nodded her again as she stepped back into the room. "Yeah."

"How is your taijutsu?" he asked her.

The question sounded strange to her for some reason. Ryu fidgeted as she contemplated how to answer without embarassing herself.

"Well," she said, sounding unsure. "It's... not something to boast about..."

The hokage sat back in his chair. "Could you... elaborate please?" he said.

She hung her head. "It's sucks," she said. "My taijutsu's horrible. I can barely break a board."

"Would you like to be better at it?"

She nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Alright," The hokage straightened some papers and grabbed a pen.

"Ryu Akihara, we've decided you're going to train under Guy Might."

Ryu blinked then looked back at Guy.

"Wait, you mean with him?!" she said, exasperated. The hokage nodded.

"But-but- he pushed me out a window!! Don't you think assigning me to him might not be a good idea?!"

"Guy's a little strange when it comes to his students," said Kakashi, sensing that Ryu would stomp right out of the room and not come back. "So what he just did isn't as life threatening as you think. He wouldn't of pushed you out that window if he didn't think you wouldn't be able to save yourself. It was just a way to test your strengths."

The girl sharply turned around to face Guy, her arms folded and her face stubborn and determined. Her eyes held a little mistrust and anger toward him.

"Will you teach me taijutsu?" she asked him straight forwardly.

"I'll do my best, but it really depends on you." he said.

She looked down at the floor in thought, her foot tappping a quick beat. She then looked back at Guy.

"Okay," she said. "I guess I'll go along with it."

He then gave her that large smile again, and he clapped his hands together.

"Alright, let's get down to business!" he said. "Come follow me and you'll meet your other teammates."

She followed him outside the room, and waved goodbye to the hokage and the other ninjas. Kurenai waved back; she had found she liked Ryu. She had spunk that was for sure, and the fact that Kiba had warmed up to her so quickly was a good thing. As they walked down the stairs, Guy was already starting to ask Ryu questions about the extense of her taijutsu training.

"How many pounds can you lift?" he asked.

"Um... About fifteen."

"Can you pick a person up?"

"Uh... I can pick a seventy pound kid up. I think..."

"And how long can you hold him up for?"

"I have no idea."

"Do you know how many sit-ups you can do in a minute?"

"No."

"What about push-ups?"

"Nope. What exactly does this all have to do with taijutsu?"

"Everything!" Guy declared, almost making Ryu jump. "Taijutsu is about strength and being one with your body!To become stronger both physically and spiritually is the key to bettering your taijutsu!"

She looked at him for a moment as they walked out of the building and onto the street.

"And that specifically means...what?" she asked.

"It means I'm going to make you train. Hard." he said as he lead her through the crowd. "To be more specific, by the end of this week, I expect you to be able to do 100 push-ups and sit-ups."

"What, in a row?"

"Yes, in a row!"

"What?! I'll never-!!"

"Aha!" Guy boomed. He turned on her, his eyes gleaming. "That's your problem!"

Ryu looked at him in question. "What is?"

"You need to stop thinking 'I can't' and start thinking 'I can'!" he said this while tapping her forehead. Purple splotches started to bloom in her brown eyes so he stopped before she could start screaming curses at him again.

They started to walk again. "So, you meam I need to think positive?" she asked. Guy nodded.

"But I already do!"

"Then what's wrong? Why do you think you can't do what I asked?"

"Because... Because..."

Ryu searched for an answer that wouldn't embarass her. He looked back at her, expectanat. She looked back at him.

"I guess you could say," she started. " it's because I'm too skinny. And I'm short."

They had traveled far enough to the training sight that the village was behind them. He turned around to look at her and see if her claims were accurate. She was a little on the scrawny side, and, if he was right, the girl barely made 5'1. The skinny part they could fix, but the height...

"Well, you won't be skinny for long if you eat right," he said. He started to walk again. "C'mon, we're not that far away."

The way to training reminded her of the way to Kiba's sight, but her's didn't seem to have as many trees. A clearing opened up and she saw three kids that looked her age doing various tasks. One of them, who was doing push-ups, reminded her of Guy so strongly that she wondered if he was his son. There was a girl with her hair up in buns who seemed to be practicing markmanship. She noted the Chinese style of her clothes, and then turned her attention to the other boy.

The first thing that sprang into her mind was 'cold-eyed' when she analyzed him. He seemed to be concentrating very hard on the padded log he was hitting. When both she and Guy entered the clearing, the boy who reminded her of Guy stopped what he doing, but didn't move. Guy whistled.

"Team! Come here! I want you to meet someone," he announced.

They came forward, and each one looked at her, giving Ryu the slight feeling of being under a microscope. Guy gestured to her.

"This is Ryu Akihara," he said. "She's just been assigned to us."

Ryu waved, and gave a feeble smile. The girl smiled back and the boy waved as well. The other did nothing, but seemed to regard her with ice in his pale eyes. She resisted the urge to fidget. Guy pointed to each one as he gave their names.

"That's Lee," The boy then spoke.

"Hello," he said, sounding friendly.

"Ten-Ten," She nodded.

"And Nedgie," The same cold look.

He looked back at her. "They're your team now, and teammates look out for one another. So, you take care of them, and they'll take care of you." he said. He then gestured for them to go back to what they had been doing.

"Lee, come here!" he said. The boy spun around from his walk and came forward.

"Yes, Guy-sensei?"

"Apparently, Ryu knows nothing of taijutsu so-"

"Hey!"

He looked down at the obstinent face. Ryu was frowning at him in stubborness.

"I said my taijutsu sucks, not that I don't know anything!" she said. Guy tried not to roll his eyes.

"Alright, what do you know then?"

"I know Wings Ascent and I've been working on Four Dragons." she said. "I also know a few small moves."

Guy thought a moment while Lee decided to ask questions.

"What is Wings Ascent?" he asked Ryu.

"It's a family jutsu. My dad taught it to me." she answered. Lee looked at her, a few more questions buzzing in his head. But Guy made up his mind before he could ask any more.

"Alright, Ryu show me what you've got," he ordered. "Lee, you're the dummy; Ryu, attack him when you're ready!"

Lee looked a little nervous at this. Unlike Guy, he had noticed Ryu's legs which, though they were small, moved with strength and balance. He wasn't exactly eager to know what a kick from her felt like. But, he did as he was told. Ryu looked at Guy questioningly.

"You use your students for test dummies?" she asked dubiously.

"Once in a while. This is just to measure your skills."

She shrugged, and turned to face Lee who had gone off a few yards. The white whisps of cloud flared up around her ankles and wrists as she took a stance. One foot in front of the other while her hands were put up in front of her chest in loose fists. Nedgie and Ten-Ten had stopped what they had been doing to watch. She took a step forward as her feet left the ground to hover.

She then started to 'run' toward Lee, if you could call what her gliding over the grass running. She was definently fast as she was in of Lee before he could put his hands up. But just as she was about to hit him in the front, she dissappeared.

"Huh?" he blinked, but then felt a blow from behind.

Ryu had reappeared behind him, hitting him in the back with a lash from her forearm. She had used a straight hand like a whip. But-

She then came around from behind him.

"Come on!" she said, hands on her hips. "This isn't going to work if you don't attack me!"

"You want me to attack you?" he asked.

"Yes!"

"Okay!"

He went after her, ready to execute a Leaf Hurricane. She was able to effectively dodge it, being able to match his speed. He had been prepared for her to do that and improvised by throwing a punch. She dodged again, making Lee wonder at their matched speed. He had never met anyone as fast as him before. It appeared that Ryu hadn't either, but she grinned as they sparred.

"This is fun!" she said, her eyes dancing as she continued to dodge. "I've never met anyone as fast as I am before! I think I like you!"

Lee smiled. "I hope you still like me if I beat you then!" he said.

"Ooh, is that a challenge?"

"Perhaps,"

The girl laughed wickedly, and gave him a wild grin. He began to try to hit again, but she was a good dodger. He noticed that her movements were steadily guiding her downward. So the next attack he aimed lower then where he actually wanted to hit her. It looked like it was going to work until Ryu dropped to the ground, and the next thing Lee knew a heel kick had sent him into the air.

Ten-Ten described it to him later as a fast hand-stand with Ryu's ankle aimed at his jaw. Another kick hit him in the back, and he found the blows going in a zig-zag line. He was about to stop the next attack by grabbing her leg, but as soon as she reappeared to do so, she dissappeared. He was floating now and he looked up to see Ryu above him, flying. She crossed her arms into an 'x' and, in putting her hands arms at her sides, sent a wave of wind at him, followed by her feet into his chest.

When he hit the ground, the wind made a crater around him. Ryu landed away from the crater and looked at Guy.

"How was that?" she asked.

"Not bad," he said. "It was nice to watch."

Lee then sat up in the crater. "That didn't hurt!" he said, sounding very surprised. Ten-Ten looked at him.

"It didn't?" she asked.

"No! Not in the least!"

Guy looked at Ryu a bit sternly. "Alright, what'd you do?" he said. She smiled at him sheepishly.

"I used my wind to cushion the hits," she said. Lee climbed out of the crater and he came over to her.

"I'm glad you did cushion them. You may have broken my ribs with your kicks," he said. Ryu shook her head.

"I couldn't of broken your ribs if I tried," she said. "I didn't even have to put that much wind in to cushion them. You're just a toughie."

Lee shrugged as Ten-Ten approuched her. "You said you used wind to cushion the blows," she said. "Does that mean you can control wind?"

Ryu nodded. "Yup,"

"How?"

"The Akiharas," Nedgie finally spoke. " are a family who can control wind. It's a jutsu they're born with giving them many different abilities involving it."

"That's right," said Ryu. "But how did you know that?"

"They used to be well-known," he answered. "And the last of them were supposedly dead from the Sound invasion. Where did you come from?"

The questions seemed innocent enough to Ryu, but she didn't like the look on the boy's face while he asked them. She didn't like his voice either, as if he was doing her a favor by looking down on her. To her, he seemed to radiate a kind of arrogance mixed with anger. He seemed very emotionally supressed, from her point of view anyway.

"My grandparents, the ones you said that are dead, disowned my father after he married my mom. That's where I came from." she said. He looked away, giving the air of being satisfied with her.

After all of this, Ryu had decided she didn't like Nedgie. She didn't like the way he looked at people in general, and the way he had spoken to her. That inner rage she felt from him wasn't doing him any favors either. She turned her attention back to Lee and Ten-Ten as Nedgie went back to whatever he had been doing. Guy folded his arms.

"Okay, so now that's in the open, I want you to demonstrate your wind control." he said to Ryu. "Your dad wasn't terrific, but at least he knew how to make the wind blow during summer sessions."

"Okay," she said. She ran a few yards away and the cloud whisps came up again.

She started to glide over the ground again, making sharp turns and twists. Ten-Ten decided to voice a question she had had for a while.

"Ryu," she called to her. "What do you call what you're doing right now?"

"Air sliding,"

Ryu then flipped up into the air, creating a loose whirlwind which spun itself out. She started a few more and then dispersed them. She went back down to the ground, and turned to Guy.

"I'm going to do a Dragon's Blade Dance," she said. "My dad never could get the hang of it so you've probably never seen it."

Guy nodded his head. Ryu actually did seem to start dancing as she started the pattern for the jutsu. She leaped and landed on one foot, spun on that foot, and then did the same thing over again about four times. She then jumped to the middle as four whirlwinds started up in the places she had spun. The whirlwinds grew to small, contained tornadoes as Ryu began to spin in place.

A new tornado started to form around where she had been and the other four were drawn to it. They joined up, making the tornado larger. Suddenly the air around it started to shimmer and gleam. The trees around the shining wind started to rapidly lose leaves, showers of them coming down in great heaps. Ryu then came out of the top of the tornado and it suddenly dispersed, shredding the air above them with blasts of white.

She was followed onto the ground by several sliced tree branches. Guy nodded.

"Very nice," he said. "But you're right. Your taijutsu sucks compared to your genjutsu and ninjutsu."

Ryu couldn't help but cringe at this half-way compliment. Guy looked at Lee.

"Lee, tell me what you do everyday." he said to him. Lee looked a little confused at why he was asking him this.

"I train." he answered, feeling somewhat silly.

"Uh... Be more specific."

"I try to do 200 squats, 300 jump ropes, 400 punches and 500 kicks."

Guy looked over at Ryu. "Did you get all that?" he asked her.

"I wish I hadn't," she replied, her eyes much larger then they already were. "You're not going to try and get me to do all that, are you?"

He shrugged. "Not so much. But starting today I want you to work on your punches. I didn't see one punch during all that, and the only thing you did close to a punch was that horrible excuse of a chop. Get over to the logs and start practicing!"

The girl's spirits visually dropped at this command as she resigned herself to start walking over to the padded posts. When she got over to one, she tentively poked it, wondering how soft or hard it was. She heard Ten-Ten giggle behind her.

"It's not going to eat you, Ryu!" she said. "Go ahead and punch it."

"It's breaking my knuckles I'm afraid of, not a piece wood wood eating me," she said. This made Ten-Ten laugh even more, though she could tell it wasn't in humiliation. Guy clapped his hands.

"Alright, Ryu! Start punching! And let me know when you get to a hundred!"

"What?!"



**B**y the time Ryu was able to drag herself back to Kiba's house, dinner had already been finished for an hour. Kiba was outside in the yard messing around with Akumaru when he heard her come in.

"Hey Ryu!" he called to her in greeting. "You missed dinner!"

"I did? Aw man..."

He let Akumaru have the rope they had been tugging back and forth as he went in to check on her. She sounded really tired. He saw she had collapsed into a chair, her top half draped over the table. He then noticed her knuckles which looked sore and bruised, one or two were even bleeding.

"What happened to you?" he asked as he sat down next to her. She sighed.

"I was assigned a team,"

"Really? Who?"

"Guy."

"Oh." That explained the knuckles. Lee had told him about the training he did once, and it didn't sound like fun to him though Lee had been smiling when he told him.

"Do you want something to eat?" he asked her.

"Yes, please."

He went over to the refridgerator and took out the food they had saved for her. He thought of something as he got her a plate.

"Y'know, you getting assigned to a team explains something," he said as he brought the food over to her. Ryu weakly sat up in her chair and shakily handled her chopsticks.

"Yeah? What does it explain?" she asked as she spooned some rice into a bowl. Kiba reached into one of his pockets and took out a Leaf Village band.

"Kurenai-sensei asked me to give you this," he said as he handed it to her.

She took it and handled it for a while. She ran her fingers over the Leaf symbol, feeling the grooves and turns in the metal. She looked at Kiba.

"What do I do with it?" she asked.

"You wear it."

"Where?"

"Anywhere, really."

Ryu looked at again for a bit, then bent down. She then tied the band above her right ankle. She lifted her leg to see how well it looked; she decided she liked it there. She pointed at it.

"Can I wear it there?" Kiba nodded.

"So," he said as she started to tentively eat. "How was your first day with Guy anyway?"

"Horrendous. He pushed me out a window,"

"He what?!"

"He pushed me out a third-floor window to test my wind manipulation skills. Or so he claims." she explained. Kiba looked at her in question.

"You can manipulate wind?"

"Yup," she said between bites. "It's an Akihara jutsu. We're born with it."

She turned to him. "Do you want to see?"

"Sure,"

She held her hands out in front of her and had them parted a few inches away from eachother. The air between them started to shimmer and twist around until he could see a ball of swirling wind between her hands. She then took it in one of her hands and tossed it back and forth like a real ball. She grinned at Kiba, a mischievous light in her eyes.

"Catch!" she said as she tossed it him.

She laughed as he fumbled for the ball of air. But when he did put his hands on it, the ball suddenly exploded in a burst of small lights. He looked at her, a little exasperated at her trick which she continued to laugh at. He quickly snatched her chopsticks from her hand and then popped a vegetable sushi in her mouth. Ryu's face turned several shades of green after he did this, and she jumped up from her seat.

It was Kiba's turn to laugh as she spat the sushi out of her mouth and into the trash. She then whirled on him, her eyes turning from brown to purple in a second.

"Don't ever do that again!" she half-snarled at him. "I _hate_ vegetables!!"

He blinked. "You do?"

"Yes, I- Well, actually no. I like carrots and potatoes, but that's about it."

Kiba then started to laugh again, much to Ryu's distemper. She was about to hit him when she remembered her knuckles. They screamed in protest as she tried to curl them into a fist. She glowered at him.

"You're _so_ lucky I can't hit you right now," she grumbled.

"Oh, sorry, Ryu," he said, realising the misunderstanding. "I wasn't laughing at you; it was what you said."

She blinked. "Oh."

He looked at her knuckles, the scent of her blood hitting his nose at that moment. A fresh cut was spreading across one of them.

"By the way, what exactly are you going to do about your knuckles anyway?" he asked. She looked down at them.

"I don't know. I didn't think of that during training."

Kiba rolled his eyes as he got up. "Follow me," he said as he walked upstairs.

She followed him as he lead her into the bathroom. He opened the medicine cabinet and started to look for the bandages and medical tape. Ryu looked around the place and poked her head into the shower.

"Where are your parents?" she asked, her voice echoing in the tub.

"My dad had to go meet someone in town, and my mom's out shopping. Come out of there, and let me fix those knuckles."

She did and held her right hand out. He spread the antibacterial ointment on them before he started to wrap the bandages around her hand.

"You've got really small hands," he remarked as he did this.

"I know. That's why my taijutsu's so bad; you can't throw a decent punch when your fist is the size of a light-bulb."

She flexed her bandaged hand as he started to work on the other. "What are you going to do tomorow? Isn't Guy expecting you to work on the same thing tomorrow?" he asked. Ryu shrugged.

"I'll think of something." she said. She remembered something then. "Oh! Guy said he might try to help me find an apartment!"

He looked at her. "He did?" he said, a little surprised. "What, does he think I'm going to kick you out or something?"

"No," she said. "He said something about it not being a good thing for me to be staying with you. Something about me being a girl and you being a boy; I dunno, I wasn't paying attention to him."

Kiba rolled his eyes. _Blasted nutball,_ he thought. _I work with dogs; that doesn't mean I am one._ He gently patted her newly wrapped, carefully avoiding the knuckles.

"Ta-dah! Good as new!" he proclaimed. She looked at her hands.

"Thanks Kiba," she said. She stood up and stretched.

He heard a couple of bones pop, the sound making him flinch. He hated the sound of bone.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed," she said. "I'm beat after Guy made me run those laps."

He left the bathroom with her, and they parted ways. She started over to the spare room, and he was going back downstairs to work with Akumaru. He turned as he thought of something.

"Oh, wait! Ryu!" he said to her back. She turned around.

"How am I going to wake you up tomorrow?"

"Oh, you can just use the spray bottle again; that seemed to work pretty good." she replied. She then turned and opened her door.

Kiba went back outside and tagged Akumaru. The puppy barked imputence then started to chase him. Upstairs, Ryu could hear him. She watched them from the window for a bit. She giggled as Akumaru tripped Kiba in their small game of tag. She then flopped down on the bed, fatigue quickly taking her senses. She kicked off her sandals and curled around the blankets. It wasn't long until all she heard was her own breath and heartbeat.


	4. Stories Written In Sand

**Stories Written In Sand**

**A** few days later, Ryu found that a pattern had established itself without her even realising it. Kiba would wake her up with the spray bottle every morning, and every morning she would wake up to find her knuckles had healed during the night. Guy would make her practice her punches every day, along with various techniques he decided to teach them as a team, and then she would come back to Kiba's an hour after dinner each night with bleeding knuckles. Every night they would have to bandage her knuckles, and then she would collapse onto her bed and sleep. The next day it would happen all over again.

But today was Saturday, and the day before, Guy had given the team the day off. He had also informed Ryu of his success in finding her an apartment. So she was walking with him over there to inspect it in the late morning. It was between the restaurant district and the bazaar where various merchants and local tradesmen sold their wares. They had to walk up some outside stairs to reach the front door, and Guy handed her the keys.

"It's all yours," he said. Ryu smiled.

"Thanks for doing this for me." she said. "Though you didn't really have to."

He shook his head. "A teacher is supposed to help his students, and I couldn't let you stay with Kiba forever."

She shrugged as she rammed the key into the lock and opened the door. It reminded her of a hotel room; the bed was on one side and a small sink area across from it. The stove was in another corner and the closed door on the other side of the room directly across from her she guessed was the bathroom. She walked in and started to look around.

"When did you get all this?" she asked as she walked over to the bed.

"We all pitched in to help," he said, sounding proud of himself and the other teachers. "You can thank the other teams for helping us move it all in. You should definently try to find Chikomaru; Asuma got distracted and ended up dropping the other end of the stove on his foot."

She walked into the bathroom. She looked around and found sand in corners of the small room and around the tub. She looked out at Guy.

"Why is there sand everywhere in here?" she asked.

"Oh, that. Shino detected an infestation and we asked Gaara to get rid of them."

"Gaara?"

"One of the kids from the Sand Village," he said as she came back out. He got the feeling that she knew something about him.

"Do you know him?" he asked voicing his question.

She shook her head, but didn't look too sure. Ryu then brightened as she turned to him, grinning.

"Thanks, Guy-sensei! This means alot to me!" she said, expressing more gratitude. "But don't think this makes up for pushing me out that window. I told you I'm never going to forgive you for that!"

Guy laughed. "I know, I know!" he said. He waved as he walked out the door. "Hope you enjoy the new place!"

"I will! Bye!"

She said this as she danced on her toes. He left going down the stairs and Ryu left the door open. She started to bounce around the room, feeling very happy and pleased about this new arrangement. She liked the apartment and was now in a very good mood. She opened the three windows and then sat down on her new bed.

She would need to make a list of the things she was going to need. She started to explore the one room apartment, going through the cupboards under and above the sink. They had already gotten bowls, plates, utensils, pots, and pans, but when she got to the bathroom, she found nothing there in which to keep herself clean. And where exactly was she going to keep her clothes? A little more exploring resulted in her finding there was a sort of pull-out dresser underneath her bed.

After she made a list of the things she needed, she sat down on her bed again. A continueing sense of contentment went through as she looked about. She walked around the place once more and then clapped her hands in decision. _Okay!_ she thought. _Now that I've got a place of my own, it's time for the real work!_ She grabbed her small messenger bag, emptied it of her clothes, brush, toothbrush, and other toiletries, and then went out the door, locking it behind her.

She walked down the stairs and headed for the inner part of the village. She was going to go look for the Leaf Village's library, and see what they had for myths and legends. After all, she had promised Dr. Masuda she would keep up her research when she found a place to settle down. About fifteen minutes of wandering and asking directions, Ryu had found no library and no one who could give decent directions. She started to look in the side streets, knowing that a library was usually somewhere quiet.

But when she started looking there, she couldn't find anyone to ask where the library was. She began to explore more, and, finally, she saw someone. It was a boy around her age, just minding his own business. Ryu got the feeling that she had seen him before though she couldn't remember where; the red hair seemed very familiar. He was dressed in tan and black clothes, and was carrying a gourd on his back.

It looked like there was black painted around his eyes, making the light green of his eyes stand out. There was also something in red above one of his eyes. She ran over to him.

"Excuse me," she said. He looked at her, and she suddenly got the feeling he didn't talk much to other people. "Do you know where the library is?"

"Yes," he said, his voice quiet and deep.

"Can you give me directions? No one seems to know where it is."

"That's where I'm going right now."

"Oh," she said looking hopeful and trying not to be imposing at the same time. She felt like this guy required his space. "Do you mind if I come with you?"

He nodded. "You may," he said. He looked at her with a slight air of interest now. She smiled her gratitude.

"Thanks!" she said, still smiling. She held out her hand. "I'm Ryu."

He slowly took her hand, and she noticed he had very light grip.

"Gaara," he said, giving her his name. Ryu looked at him questioningly.

"Gaara...?" she echoed. She looked at the ground in thought as he released her hand. "I've heard that name somwhere..."

Gaara looked at her expectantly. He found that people knew who he was in the Leaf Village. But as he looked at this girl, she seemed familar somehow, like an old photograph you took yourself and then find again in the attic, faded and worn. The memory connected with her was just beyond his reach; he strained to catch it, but it dissappeared as soon as he came close to catching it again. The name, the hair, the eyes, and the mark under her right eye all tugged at forgotten memories.

"Oh!" The girl remembered and he hoped she had an answer to his small dilemma.

"You're the boy that Guy said got rid of the infestation in my new apartment!" she said. He blinked as his emotions hit the ground. "But..."

The girl looked at him while she thought, her lips twisted and her eyes intense.

"You seem very familar..." She sighed.

"I was thinking the same thing," he said, trying to help her out. "Have... you ever been to the Sand Village?"

She shook her head. "Have you ever gone to the Sound Village? Or maybe around it?" she asked tentively. He shook his head, and she sighed, folding her arms in frustration.

"You came from the Sound Village?" he asked her.

"Oh, no!" she said, trying to dispel any suspicion. "I used to live around the village, not in it. My family wasn't part of it because of my dad."

Gaara gave an air of understanding and he started to walk away. After going a few feet, he looked back at Ryu.

"I thought you said you needed to get to the library," he said to her.

"I do."

"Then why aren't you moving?"

A light dawned in her eyes, realising what he meant, and then she jogged over to catch up to him. They walked back into the inner part of the village, Gaara pointing out other places Ryu needed to get to at another time. They had brief conversations as Gaara asked questions about her and what brought her to the Leaf Village. When they got to the library, she thanked him for getting her there.

"What exactly are you looking for anyway?" he asked her.

"Oh, I'm doing research on myths and legends, particularly those on the spirits and demons of different villages." she answered. This led to a limited expression of puzzlement from Gaara.

"Why?" She shrugged.

"It's what I'm interested in," she said. A look of understanding spread across his face as she walked over to one of the librarians.

She was able to get directions to the section she needed, and Gaara decided to come with her. Maybe if he stayed close to her, the memory would become clearer. They came to the section, and Ryu started to investigate the stacks while he looked around; he had never been to this part of the library before. Usually, he wandered around until a book caught his eye. But today, Temari and Konkuro had asked him to bring back books for them, so he was on the look out for what they would like.

He knew an author Temari liked, but he had no idea what his older brother read. He turned his attention to Ryu, who had four books in her hands and was straining to reach a fifth. He walked over to her and got the book for her, but the title of it made him pause. It read, "Legends of the Sand." He looked at Ryu.

"Do you mind?" he asked, referring to the book. She shook her head.

"No, go ahead," she said. She started to look around for another.

He opened the book up and flipped to the table of contents. He thought his stomach was about to drop out of his body as his eyes landed on the title for chapter six, "Shukaku- Friend or Foe?". He followed Ryu over to a table as the both of them started to read. He turned to chapter six and started to read the introduction to the Shukaku myths. _I wonder what this guy would say if he met me,_ he thought wickedly as he read. Ryu looked over at what he was reading.

"Oh, you're interested in Shukaku?" she asked.

"...Yes," he answered. "What do you know about him?"

"Well..." she said as she put her thoughts together. "There are two kinds of myths concerning Shukaku; the ones that show him as a protector, and the ones that make him the destroyer. If all the stories are true, I'd say he's very strange and maybe prone to psychotic episodes."

Gaara tried not to flinch. "What else?"

"There really aren't that many myths about him. He saves a girl, he destroys a city, fights a few other spirit demons here and there. He randomly pops up in legend history once in a while, and that's it. The latest one I've read is about a father sealing him inside his son."

He hung his head, and she looked at him. "Gaara? Are you okay?" she asked, concerned. He looked up at her.

"You want to hear something interesting?" he asked. She nodded her head.

"That myth about the father and son is true." Ryu looked like she might laugh, but then looked intently at him.

"How do you know?" she asked. He spread his arms out.

She blinked and then pointed a finger at him. He nodded his head and he thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head they were so wide.

"Wow," she said a little breathlessly. "Can... If you don't mind that is, can I ask you some questions?"

"Only a few please," he said, wanting to keep his personal affairs out of the way.

She got a pad of paper and a pencil out of her messenger bag, and wrote four questions down on the pad before she began.

"What's it like?"

"I... feel like a normal person, I guess. Although over the years...I've...had to deal with a lot. The spirit takes form in sand and it protects me all the time, so I haven't had so many physical injuries as the usual person."

She checked off one of the questions. "What kind of jutsus are you able to perform?"

"I can bend sand to do whatever I want. I can make it harden into rock and take different shapes. I can also make earth based things like jars or hills turn into sand, but it tires me. I can use the sand to take the shape of Shukaku, but that also takes an enormous amount of chakra." he answered. He watched as she wrote everything down.

"Um... I've got two more questions. Does it have any effects on you, mentally or physically?"

He hesitated before answering. "I...suffer from insomnia, and... I had a...psychotic break when I was six." he said quietly.

For some reason he felt like he was talking to a therapist. He had also started wondering why exactly he was telling this all to someone he had just met half an hour ago. Maybe because it was the continuing sense of familiarity he got from her, plus she didn't seem phased at all from what he was telling her. Almost as she was used to hearing stories like his.

"Can I ask you a question?" he asked her. She looked up and nodded.

"Uh-huh."

"Why exactly are you asking me all these questions?"

She blinked. "Research."

The memories of being told he was a failed experiment made him suspicious of this answer.

"And I pertain to your research how?"

Ryu sighed. "How can I explain this...?" she said this more to herself. She looked at him. "Do you want to hear a short story, or a long one?"

"Long one."

She sighed again. "Okay. You see, after my mom died, one of my mom's friends took me in. He was a professor at the university in the Sound Village who taught demonology. While he took care of me, he put me to work studying and also being a secretary. That's how I got so interested in myths and legends and things.

"And you see, finding a human being with a spirit inside them is really rare. It's kind of like living proof that demons are alive. So when people like me or Dr. Masuda finds someone like you, it's an opportunity to learn more about spirits and their relationship with humans. It helps us understand the legends more and how to deal with a dangerous demon spirit if one shows up."

She looked at him sideways, her mouth twisted in a frustrated frown. "Did that make any sense to you?" she asked. He nodded his head.

"Yes. Are...there anymore people like me?" he asked. She brightened a bit a this.

"Oh yes! There's actually been a small surge in the last generation, if the research is correct." she said. "There's a blind girl in the Mist Village with the Sacred Turtle inside her, and there are actually three people in the Sound Village, but there used to be four. The first one we found was a boy who could see ghosts, and then we found a young woman with a fire demon inside her."

She shuddered in remembering that one. "That was a freaky mission. I'm never going to forget that! Then a few years ago Dr. Masuda found Inu, a half-breed who's father seemed to be a dog demon. I have a picture of him, do you want to see it?"

Gaara nodded his head, and Ryu started digging through her bag again. She found her wallet and took a picture out of it. In the photo was a man in his early thirties with glasses, Ryu, and a boy with shoulder-length black hair and... black dog ears coming out of the top of his head. His eyes gleamed yellow, and he smiled a toothy grin, his canines pointed and large. He glanced from the photo to Ryu.

"You knew this boy?" he asked.

"Uh-huh, he's a sweet-heart too. He's seven and he's the cutest little thing I've ever met. The girls at the university love him to death because of the ears." she said.

"So, Dr. Masuda took you and Inu in?"

"Yep. He's a pretty nice guy."

He gave her the picture back, and decided to ask another question. "Why did you leave?"

"Oh, I'd been wanting to for a while," she said as she put it back in her wallet. "Doc made me wait until I was older because he was worried about me going off on my own to find the Leaf Village."

"Huh. Do you have anymore questions for me?"

Ryu looked at him blankly, as if asking what he was talking about. She then looked down at the pad and pencil in her hands still.

"Oh! That's right!" she exclaimed. "Um... What does Shukaku look like?"

Gaara thought a moment. "Well... He... He's kind of hard to describe... Can I use your pencil and paper?" he asked. She pushed them over to him, and he drew a rough sketch.

She looked at the sketch and it reminded her of a fat cat with a large scaled tail, chubby paws, and a short crocodile mouth. She smiled at him.

"Thanks! The Doc will be glad to get this info." she said as she put her things away. "There's almost nothing on Shukaku except for the few myths we've been able to dig up. He's almost as rare as the Winged Tiger."

He looked at her in question. He had never heard of the Winged Tiger before. "What's the Winged Tiger?" he asked.

"Well, she's just what the name says: a giant tiger with wings. There's only one legend about her too, and even then the end is missing." she said.

"What's it about?" he asked, being curious about the new spirit.

"It's the basic creation myth. The gods, angry with man because of their continuing wickedness and disrespect toward them, made a giant tiger with wings, and sent her down to pass judgement on all the evil she saw. After three weeks of roaming the land, man started to pray for forgiveness and release from the Winged Tiger as she had already slaughtered many. This is what the gods wanted, and so now that they had it, they asked the Winged Tiger to come back. But she wouldn't, and after a discussion, one of the gods went down to deal with her," she told him.

She shrugged her shoulders. "And that's it for the legend. That's all that's left of it."

She stood up and picked up her bag. "What are you here for anyway?" she asked.

"Oh, my brother and my sister asked me to get some books for them," he said as he followed her to the fiction section of the library.

He located the author that Temari liked, and then started to look for something for Konkuro. After standing there and puzzling for about three minutes, he gave up and grabbed three random books off of the suggested reading stack. He found Ryu on the other side of the shelf with a copy of Hidden Winds.

"What's that for?" he asked, finding himself puzzled as to why she wanted to read it. She shrugged.

"Something different to read," she answered.

They both went to the check-out desk, and left the library together. They had both found each other interesting; Gaara had found himself fascinated by her optimistic personality. Her entire family was dead, and she still laughed and smiled like a normal person. So they talked more as they walked, Gaara subconsciously walking back to his house as Ryu followed him. She got distracted by a small clothing store that was selling fingerless gloves. She started to look through them to see if there was a size that could fit her small hands.

"Why do you need those?" he asked as he watched her go through them.

"I need something to protect my knuckles during training," she said. She finally found a pair of black gloves that fit her, and paid the clerk.

They walked outside as she tugged them on, and she flexed her hands in them to see if she had enough room. She made a fist and heard the black fabric protest at being moved.

"Who's your teacher?" he asked. He was actually starting to feel a bit silly as he was asking her so many questions. But he wanted to get know her a bit more.

"Guy," she said. "He's making me work like a dog."

"So you're on the same team as Lee?"

"Yeah. Do you know him?"

They had stopped walking, one standing in front of the other. Gaara tried not to look too guilty.

"In a way..." he said, but let his sentence trail off as he saw Ryu's eyes grow large as she looked past him.

"What?"

"Smoke," she said, pointing past him. He turned around and saw smoke billowing out of the tiny porch that was part of his apartment.

"Oh, that's just my house," he said.

Realisation then struck him in the head. He spun around and ran to the building with Ryu right behind him. He dashed up the stairs and wrenched the door open. Temari was standing there with her fan open, and was blowing the smoke, which was coming from the oven, out the window. Konkuro was standing there, not exactly helping, but then what could he do against smoke?

"I'm afraid to ask," said Gaara. "But what happened?"

"Nothing," said Temari though the tone of her voice did nothing to encourage such a remark. She sounded very annoyed. "I fell asleep on the couch while the roast was cooking, that's all."

He looked over at Konkuro, not exactly happy. "And you were where?"

"Room," he said jerking his thumb. "I had my headphones on. I came out here to see if dinner was ready and the room was filled with smoke."

He cocked his head as he looked at Ryu. "Who's she?"

"Ryu. I met her going to the library."

Ryu gave a small wave. "Hello!"

She then looked at Gaara. "So, this is your brother and sister?" she asked. He nodded his head.

Temari gave the fan one final flick, sending the smoke out of the room entirely, and then turned around to meet Ryu. She looked her up and down, and decided to give her a friendly smile.

"Temari. It's nice to meet you." she said, sounding formal.

Ryu smiled back. "It's nice to meet you too."

Konkuro came a little closer and extended his hand. "Konkuro."

She gave him a smile as well as she took his hand. His grip was normal, but she noticed grooves in his fingers. What could those be from? Temari had turned around to inspect what was left of the roast. She sliced the top of it with a knife and found it was okay to eat; it was just very well done.

"Is it still edible?" asked Gaara as he looked over her shoulder.

"It's... alright." she said.

Ryu looked at their clock. It read 2 p.m.

"Gaara, I've got to go," she said. He turned around and he gave a small wave good-bye.

She smiled again. "See you around!"

She left the apartment, closing the door behind her. Konkuro watched Gaara for a moment. _Wow, Gaara actually made a friend,_ he thought. _And with a girl to boot._ His younger brother looked back at him, the face that used to make him jump present again.

"What?"

"Nothing..."

Ryu walked down the street, heading to Kiba's house. She wondered if he had a phone, and hoped that he did. She also hoped he would be home around this time of day. She didn't know his training schedule. When she got to the house, and knocked on his door, Kiba answered.

"Oh, hey Ryu." He looked surprised to see her.

"Hi! Kiba, do you have a phone?"

He blinked. "Yeah. Do you need to use it?"

"Do you mind?"

"No. Come on in,"

He let her in, and lead her to the phone. Akumaru barked when he saw her and started to wiggle about her feet. She patted him on the back as Kiba handed her the phone. He watched her dial the number.

"Who're you calling anyway?"

"A friend. I told him I'd call once I got here. He's probably freaking out enough as it with me gone so long," she said. She put the phone to her ear, and Kiba attempted to pick Akumaru up.

The puppy barked and bared his teeth in resistance. The boy rolled his eyes.

"Alright, but don't bother her," he said as he left to give Ryu privacy.

She tapped her feet as the phone rang. Finally, someone picked up.

_"Second Hokage University. How can I help you?"_

"Hi, I'd like to speak to Dr. Masuda in Demonology please."

_"I'll transfer you,"_

Akumaru cocked his head at her as he heard music being played. Then there was a click.

_"Demonology, Inu speaking. Um... Who's this?"_

Ryu rolled her eyes. "Inu, you know that's rude."

_"Ryu!! You're safe! You're alive! Hold on a sec, I'll go get the Doc!!"_

"Wait! Inu! He might be in the middle of a lesson!" she protested as she heard the quick patter of bare feet on wood.

She heard the faint explanation and the phone was picked up again.

_"Ryu?"_

"Hi, Doc!" she said enthusiastically.

_"Hey there! It's good to hear from you. Are you in the Leaf Village?"_

"Yup. I got here just fine thanks to a new friend."

Akumaru barked and started to wag his tail.

_"Oh, thank goodness. With all the Black Ops. running around, I thought something might happen before you got there. Who's your new friend?"_

"Well," she said as she petted Akumaru to try and keep him quiet. "I've actually got a few now. Akumaru was the one who got me here, and lead me to Kiba."

_"And they are...?"_

"Akumaru is Kiba's puppy and he found me in the forest. I got lost."

She heard Inu in the background say, _"As usual!"_

"Doc, can you stick your tongue out for me at Inu?"

_"Heh heh, no. So, you got to town and made two friends. I hope you made two more with your grandparents."_

Akumaru whined. "Well... No. I found out that they're dead too." she said, as she scratched him behind the ears. She had decided to sit on the floor now.

_"Oh dear. So where are you staying? Do I have to come get you?"_

"Oh, no! You see, Kiba's teacher, Kurenai, met me after I got here and she took me to see the hokage. They set me up with a team, and then Guy-sensei, my teacher, got me an apartment."

_"I see, so you're training there now?"_

"Uh-huh."

_"That's good. That's very good. Oh, hold on a sec,"_

She heard Dr. Masuda ask Inu to get the door. Ryu then remembered her notes from Gaara.

"Oh, Doc! You're never going to beleive who I found here either! You remember that legend we heard about the father who sealed Shukaku in his own son?" she said as she dug the notes out of her bag.

He took a moment to answer as she heard him finish talking to someone on the other side of the phone. It didn't sound like anyone she had heard before.

"Doc? Who's there with you?"

_"Oh, no one, just a new student. So what did you find out about the legend?"_

"It's true! Completely true! I met this boy when I was trying to find the library named Gaara, and after a while, he told me who he was."

Akumaru suddenly jumped out of her lap and ran into the other room. She wondered what was wrong, but was quickly distracted by the doctor's outburst.

_"What?! Oh my! Oh my! Uh... Um... Did you ask him anything?! What does he look like?! Please tell me you asked the right questions!! If we can prove he actually exists, we can add another spirit existance to the list!"_

Ryu started to laugh as she heard Dr. Masuda go into a hyper-rant of discovery. She loved it when they found something new like this. He got so happy whenever they found a new legend or another spirit. She thought she heard him jumping around on the other end.

_"What?! What?! What's so funny?" _he exclaimed. She thought she heard Inu laughing as well, his kid laughter breaching the line easily.

"Oh, nothing. Yes, I asked the questions. I'll send the information to you as soon as I can. Speaking of which, can you send my stuff to me? It's kind of hard to get up in the morning without my sleeping pills."

_"Oh, yes. What's your address? And do you need your account number? You left so soon, I wasn't able to get it to you."_

"Yeah, I'm kinda running out of money here. Do you have a paper and pencil?"

_"Uh... I do now."_

"Okay, here's my address. 141 Kutchki St., 2nd apartment. Got it?"

_"Yup. Are you ready for the account number?"_

She quickly dug out a pencil and paper out of her bag. She then put them on the floor and held her pencil in readiness.

"Okay, I'm ready."

_"6-6-5-1-2-4-3. Did you get all that?"_

"Uh-huh. Thanks, Doc. I'll talk to you again soon."

_"Alright. Inu, do you want to say goodbye to Ryu?"_

She heard the child on the other end faintly say yes. She then heard the phone changing hands, and the boy's voice was heard clearly.

"_Bye Ryu!"_

"Bye Inu! I'll call you soon!"

The phone changed hands again, and the girl and doctor said their goodbyes. She put the phone down with a smile on her face. It was good to hear their voices again.



**D**r. Masuda then put the phone back down in the cradle and looked over at the new student, who had stood patiently waiting around the desk.

"I'm sorry, it was an important call," he said.

"It's okay. If I may ask, who was it?"

"Oh, a former student of mine." he said as he collected papers off of his desk. "She went to the Leaf Village on family business and she's staying there for a while."

"Really? What was her name?"

"Ryu. Ryu Akihara."

"Is that so..." said Kabuto as he eyed the address on the desk.



**R**yu then put her things back in her bag, and headed out of the hall she was in. She found Kiba standing there looking a bit stern.

"You met Gaara?" he asked her bluntly. Ryu found herself wondering at the tone of his voice.

"...Yeah."

"When?"

"This morning. He helped me find the library." she said. She then looked at him curiously. "Is something wrong?"

He sighed and looked off to the side.

"No, not really. It's just..." he said this as he scratched the back of his head. "Be careful around him, alright? He's kind of... unpredictable."

She folded her arms. "Are you saying he's dangerous?"

He looked a bit nervous. "Kind of. I just want you to be careful around him." he said. Ryu put one of hips out, giving her a look of attitude.

"Kiba Inukaza, do you actually think Gaara is going to hurt me?"

"Well... I wouldn't put it past him. I mean, he does have demon inside him, if you didn't know already."

"Aha!" she said while pointing a finger at him. "I knew it! Are you judging Gaara by being a person, or by having a demon spirit inside him?"

"Uh... Uh..." Ryu rolled her eyes.

"Kiba, I am quite capable of handling myself among those like Gaara. I used to look for people like him." she said. He blinked.

"You did? Why?"

"It was part of my job." she said, sitting on the edge of a couch. "Back in Sound, I lived with Dr. Masuda, one of my mom's friends, who was a professor at Second Hokage University. I was both his secretary and a field agent when we went to a dig or on a recon mission."

"Oh... Oh." Kiba suddenly felt very silly and stupid. "Sorry."

Ryu shrugged. "It's okay. You didn't know. Either way though, Gaara's a nice person. I can tell."

Akumary barked at Kiba and he turned on the puppy.

"What the-?! Hey, you were the one who freaked out, not me!" he accused the puppy. "I'm not the ones who came barreling in here goin', 'Oh noes! That crazy sand guy's gonna eat Ryu!!' "

The girl suddenly started laughing. Both Kiba and Akumaru looked at her.

"What?" he asked. She smiled him, the large grin on her again.

"Nothing, you guys just make me laugh."

The boy half-smiled. "Do you want to stay for dinner?" he asked, feeling as if he should. "My mom won't mind."

Ryu shook her head. "No, I can't. I want to test my new oven out and I need to go get some things for my new place. Maybe some other time."

She waved as she went out the door. "Thanks Kiba! Bye you two!"

"See ya'!"

"Arf!"

She walked down the street toward the market and got what she needed for her bathroom needs; soap, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste... After that, she stopped along the bazaar to get what she needed to make her dinner. The sun was slowly approaching the horizon as she climbed her steps. Once she got to the top, she noticed a large, orange tabby cat lying on the warm stone under her window. The cat looked up at her, yawned, and then resumed sleeping.

The evening was uneventful as she made dinner, and continued her research as she ate. She then went outside to watch the sun set, and saw the cat was still there. It sat down next to her as she leaned on the rail. It started to purr as the sun finally hit the ground with red and purple streaks painting the sky. She looked down at the cat and saw no collar. She bent down to look at it, and it regarded her with orange eyes accented with green.

"So, do you have a home to get to?" she asked the cat. It merely yawned again.

Ryu then tentively petted it and the cat nudged her hand with the top of it's head, loudly purring. She giggled and stood up.

"Well, good-night Mr. Kitty."

Another yawn and the cat curled up on her porch again.



**R**yu then found herself shockingly awakened in the middle of the night from the crashing of pans. She jumped out of bed and quickly flicked the lights on. She looked over at her sink and saw the orange cat from outside standing stalk still over her disarranged pots. She put her hands on her hips, and walked over.

"If you were hungry, why didn't you say so?" she said, annoyed as she put the cat down on the floor.

She walked over to her refridgerator and took out some leftover chicken. She put it in a bowl and set it down on the floor. The cat immediately ran over and started to eat. She saw that it was boy. She sat down on the floor, tired and a little exasperated at this cat.

How did it get in anyway? She looked over at one of her windows and saw the screen had been lifted up. She pointed at the window while looking at the cat.

"Did you do that?" she asked him. The cat looked up at her, purring.

He then trotted over to the open window, jumped onto the sill, and pulled the screen down with it's claws. He then jumped down, and returned to his bowl of food. Ryu sat there with her mouth partially open. _I can already tell where this is going..._ she thought. She patted the cat on the head.

"Okay, cat. I get the message." she said as she did so.

She walked over to her bed and shut the light off. She then got back in.

"But if you're going to live here, you need a name."

She sat up, thinking, her legs crossed under the covers. The cat finished eating and walked over to the bed. It jumped onto it and curled up on the end. He looked expectantly at her. She smiled.

"I've got it." she said as she reached over to pet him. "What do you think of 'Al'?"

The cat started to purr. "Alright, so that's your name. Al."

She then lied back down in bed, sleep quickly taking her captive as it usually did.


	5. Silver Wind

**Silver Wind**

**R**yu woke up to a loud knocking at her door. She was able to drag herself out of bed and stumbled over to the door. Through bright morning light, she discerned someone dressed in green with black hair.

"Uh... Lee?" she asked, unsure.

"Good morning, Ryu-kun!" Lee said enthusiastically, afirming her guess. "Guy-sensei asked me to wake you up."

She blinked blearily at him while thinking that it should be illegal for anyone to have as much energy as Lee did in the early morning.

"Fantastic." she mumbled, the word devoid of it's meaning as she said it. Lee gave her a broad smile.

"Good! Training starts at eight. See you there!" he said. Then he jumped off her porch and into the street below.

Ryu richly yawned, and felt something furry bumping against her calf. She looked down at Al. She sighed and went back inside to eat, and take a shower, with Al constantly underfoot. It was then that she found her new pet was not afraid of water, as he demonstrated by going between the shower curtain and cover the entire time the water was running. As she put her sandals on, Al waited at the door, and before she opened it, she looked down at him and said, "Do you want to come?"

The cat meowed and as she went out the door, followed at her heels. Ryu walked down the street, trying to remember where she went from here to get to the training area. She then stopped at a store on the way, and bought some ribbon and a bell. After that, she turned to find Al sitting expectantly behind her, his tail passively twitching in the air. She knelt down and tied the ribbon with the bell on it around his neck.

She didn't try to make a bow out of it or anything fancy, and Al stayed surprisingly still during all of this. When she was finished, he merely batted the bell a little with a paw. He didn't seem to mind it. They started off again, and she found her teammates already there when they finally made it there. TenTen noticed her furry companion.

"You make a new friend?" she asked as she bent down to pet him.

"Yeah. The guy popped my screen open last night to help himself to my leftovers. Then he decided to stick around." she explained. "He kind of adopted me instead of it being the other way around."

"Why did you bring him?" Nedgie asked, none too pleased. He seemed in his usually snobby mood toward her. "Training is no place for an animal unless they are useful in battle."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, so that's why Kiba walks around with Akumaru on his head all the time?" she said, her voice dipped in sarcasm.

"Yes."

_No shit, Sherlock. _

Nedgie narrowed his eyes at her, as if he knew what she was thinking. With those freaky eyes of his, Ryu didn't doubt he might be able to. She also didn't care. Lee stepped between their gazes to try and loosen the tension. He bent down to give Al a few pets.

"Ryu, maybe you should take-"

"Al."

"-Al home. He would just be in the way here."

Ryu picked her orange fuzzball up. "It's okay, Lee. He'll stay out of the way. He's not that stupid." she said as she scratched Al behind one of his ears. The cat gave both Lee and Nedgie the same look, as if daring them to question his mistress's statement.

Lee did have to admit, the cat did have an air about it. Almost as if it knew more then it let on. He then turned around as he heard footsteps coming down the path. The boy did a quick salute when he saw Guy.

"Good morning, Guy-sensei!" he said as enthusiastically as he had to Ryu that morning. Guy gave them all a smile.

"Good morning everyone!" He then noticed the large, orange cat in one of his students' arms.

"Uh... Ryu? Is there a reason you're holding such a big cat?" he asked. The girl nodded.

"Yeah. He wanted to come."

"She should take him home," Nedgie said bluntly and emotionlessly. Al hissed at him, and then looked at Guy.

"Well, he might have to go home, Ryu,"

"Aw! Why?" she asked as the cat jumped from her arms. Guy smiled.

"Because today we're going on a mission."

The entire team seemed more awake and attentative now. A mission was more serious then training. Ryu wondered what kind it could be; the only kind of missions she had ever been on was either information gathering, or to confront a potentially dangerous spirit. She'd never done anything really dangerous like the other shinobi teams except for that one time with the fire demon, and even then she had had back-up from a professional spirit hunter, Dr. Masuda. She hoped she'd be able to handle it, whatever it was.

"What kind of mission?" asked TenTen, speaking the team's mind.

"Recon," said Guy. Ryu felt relief; if there was anything she could do, it was definently reconnasense. He continued to ellaborate.

"It may just be recon, but it's important." he said. "We think we might of found an operative cave for some of Orochimaru's men outside of the village. So the hokage gave us the mission of keeping an eye on it for a while, and reporting what we see if anything interesting happens."

He grinned. "And you kow what they mean by interesting."

Ryu quietly giggled as Lee smiled crookedly. Interesting equaled fighting in mission language. Guy clapped his hands.

"So, are you guys ready?"

"Yeah!" Lee practically shouted. "Let's go now!"

Ryu looked down at Al. The cat then started to walk away, and down the beaten path. TenTen looked at her.

"Do you think it's okay to do that?" she asked.

"He knows the way home."

She looked at Nedgie's displeased figure. "So, when do we leave?" he asked, avoiding her entirely.

"As soon as possible," said Guy as he took some paper from his vest. He handed each teen one and they turned out to be maps. "The red 'x' is where the cave is. Let's go!"

Guy immediately jumped into the trees, his team following behind him. Lee couldn't help but notice that Ryu wasn't launching herself from tree branch to tree branch like they were, but was air sliding in mid-air. They went farther and farther from the village, and once they were four miles away, Guy gave the signal to stop. They gathered loosely around him. He pointed at Ryu and Lee, then tapped an area on his map near the red 'x'.

He then did the same thing for Nedgie and TenTen, but pointed to a different area. He then pointed at himself, and pointed at an area that was between both of theirs. He then gave the sign to split up, and they quickly did. Ryu and Lee moved fast as they neared the cave and found a good viewing spot where they could watch the it but not be seen. Immediately they saw someone standing watch at the cave's mouth.

Ryu peered at the person, and saw their clothes looked the typical Sound style; dark against light colors which stood vividly against the green and earth tone colors of the country. That was the problem with Sound camoflauge; it was made for winter weather, not the fair spring weather of the Land of Fire. Ryu sat back into the tree leaves next to Lee. She looked over at him.

"Now what?" she asked quietly. He looked at her.

"We wait,"

"For what?"

"To see if they make contact with anybody or if they make any kind of moves." he said. She folded her arms.

"So, we just sit here and watch?" she asked, sounding a bit disatisfied.

"Yes," he said. "Have you never done this before?"

"In a way," she answered. "Except I've never just watched. It was always some kind of contact with the subject or a confrontation."

Lee took a more comfortable position. He'd been wanting to get to know her a bit better then he did, so he might as well start asking questions now.

"So, you had a team back in the Sound country?" he asked. Ryu shook her head.

"No, it had to do with my job." she explained.

She then told him about her occupation with Dr. Masuda and the kind of feild work they had done. Lee began to understand why she was so unused to observing the enemy like they were now. Her earlier missions had always consisted of either closely observing and small interactions with 'the spirit medium' or confronting the medium and properly sealing the spirit if it was dangerous.

"Have you met Gaara?" Lee asked after this small interview. She nodded, looking happy.

"Yes, I talked with him yesterday." she said. She smiled. "I like him. He's a good person though I don't see why some people are terrified of him."

Lee looked down, as if he was thinking. She waited as she didn't want to disturb him. She then looked off to the cave again and saw there was someone new standing with the person in front of the cave. It looked like they were talking about something as the new person ellaborated with their hands. He pointed off aways from the cave.

"Lee," she said as she nudged him. He looked up and followed her gaze. He watched and when the new person went back inside the cave, looked over at Ryu.

"What do you think that was about?" Ryu asked him.

"I think... They're going to meet with someone."

She looked back at the cave. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?' she asked.

Lee stood up. "I'm going to report to Guy-sensei," he said. "You stay here and I'll come back with more instructions."

He dashed off, and Ryu wondered at his formality. He treated Guy as if they were in the military. Then again, being one of the shinobi was being in the military, right? It was just different. She shrugged as she continued her watch.

She was about to let her mind wander when she thought she heard something underneath her. She quickly made a few hands signs, and she watched her hands disappear as her Shining Wind jutsu soon hid her. It was one of the second Akihara jutsus she had learned after air sliding. By controling the wind around her, she could heat it, and have it reflect the light around her, almost like a mirage. She looked down, and saw three people moving toward the cave.

They weren't dressed in Sound style clothing, but she thought she saw a Sound headband on the guy with silver hair. She caught the glint of glasses on his face as she observed him before looking at the other two. They were grown men, and had large, thick ropes tied around their waists. Her hands suddenly ached as she thought of what they meant. The trio left towards the cave, and she watched as the guard stood as he saw them.

Lee suddenly appeared again near her, and he looked around.

"Ryu?" he questioned softly as he did so.

"I'm here," she answred as she let the jutsu melt off of her.

"Guy-sensei had to leave," he said to her as she slowly reappeared. Ryu looked a little puzzled and angry.

"What? Why?" she said. "He can't just leave us here on our own!"

"He has to report seeing Kabuto to the Onbu Black Ops. so they can try and track him." he explained. Ryu folded her arms.

"And we're supposed to do what?" Lee smiled.

"After Kabuto and the others leave, he wants us to get inside the cave."

Ryu blinked. "You mean an ambush?"

He nodded, and the girl grinned wickedly. _Finally, we're actually going to do something!_ she thought. It hadn't even been that long, and she was already going crazy with only standing still. The promise of actually doing something later made the uncomfortable wait worth it. Ryu then thought of something.

"How are we going to amush them if they're going to see us coming in the cave?" she said. Lee looked like he was about to say something, but then closed his mouth. He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Oh!" The idea hit him quickly. "Your disappearing technique! Can you use it on me as well?"

"Uh... I think so," she said as she thought on it. She then jumped up, her energy coming in a surge.

"Okay!" she declared. "Let's go beat-up some bad guys!"

Lee grabbed her, and pulled her back into a sitting position.

"Ryu-kun! We're supposed to be hiding!!" he said anxiously while clamping a hand over her mouth.

She blinked as a muffled apology leaked through his fingers. He released her as they watched the exchange between Kabuto and the other men. They spoke for a few moments then he handed them a red scroll along with a small piece of paper. A few more words, and both groups parted, the guard heading into the cave as Kabuto and his men went back into the forest. Ryu tapped Lee on the shoulder, and when he looked at her, she showed him a few hand signs.

He bit his lip. "I'm not so great-"

"Doesn't matter. Just copy me." she whispered.

He then started to follow her lead in the signs. He noticed that the hand signs she was using didn't really deal with fingers; it delt with the entire hand and wrist. She finished by putting her forefingers into an 'x'. Ryu closed her eyes, and Lee felt warmth wrapping around him. He watched as Ryu disappeared, and then looked down at his hands. He saw that they were gone.

"It worked,"

The both of them were silent as Kabuto and his group moved beneath them. As soon as they left, Ryu lifted the jutsu off of herself for a few moments to talk the plan over with Lee.

"So, we get in the cave, and then attack totally from behind. How does that sound?" she asked.

"Fine with me!"

"Alright! Let's go!"

She put the jutsu back on, and they quickly made their way through the branch of forest. They jumped on the top of the cave, and slipped in, unnoticed. Meanwhile, Nedgie had seen all of this happen while TenTen checked her scrolls. He looked over at her.

"Lee and Ryu are inside the cave," he told her. She looked up.

"How? I had hoped Ryu was smarter then Lee," she said. He looked at her.

"Apparently our new teammate has a invisibility jutsu. The both of them just walked in," he said. TenTen looked to the cave.

"So, they're going to attack from behind them?"

"I suppose,"

She thought on this. "But, won't they get cornered?"

Nedgie unfolded his arms. "That's why we're going down there."

TenTen sighed. "Once again," she said as they started their descent to the forest floor. "We end up saving Lee. Why in the world did I think having Ryu with him would change that?"

"Because that's what always happens," Nedgie said dryly. They hit the floor at a run, ready to charge the cave from the outside.

Inside the cave, Ryu was able to fly over the operatives in the cave while Lee had to carefully pick his way through and not bump into anyone or anything. He looked around as he gradually made his way to the back; there were maps posted on the sides of the caves with areas marked or circled in red. He noticed a few buildings had red stars on them. Scrolls, papers, and books were discarded everywhere along with writing material, garbage, and leftover food. He saw the guard from outside looking over the new red scroll over with a few other men.

He counted ten men. _Ten men in one operative cave?_ he thought. _That's a lot just for an observance team._ He saw a glimmer in the back of the cave; Ryu's signal that she was there. He quickly went to the back, and watched for the second signal.

One glimmer.

Two glimmer.

Three-

"Hey! We've got two shinobi attacking us from outside!!"

"What?!"

The operatives inside the cave suddenly charged forward. Ryu ripped the jutsu off of them, her expression completely confused. She looked at Lee, perplexed. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Must be Nedgie and TenTen," he said. Ryu ran forward a bit.

"Okay, change of plans! We wait until their all outside and then go after them from here," she said. The boy gave her the thumbs up.

"Right!"

They ran forward, Lee on his feet and Ryu air sliding at half her speed. Ryu thought she saw Nedgie and TenTen fighting outside as they came forward. From the looks of it, they were kicking ass out there all on their own.

"Banzai!!!" she shouted as she came out the cave, air sliding at full speed.

She flew past the few operatives just outside the cave, and saw Lee quickly take on two. She turned around, sliding backwards to find three operatives were hot on her tail. She spun, making a small whirlwind then threw some shuriken through and around it. One was taken by the shuriken, and the other was caught in the whirlwind. She quickly sharpened the winds in the whirlwind, and after a few moments, dispersed it.

The operative fell several feet from the air and hit the ground. The last operative threw a few blades at her, which she deflected with her wind. It was easy to dodge things when you could control the air around you. The operative suddenly stopped and put a flute to his lips. _Uh-oh!_ Ryu quickly stopped, leaving a trail of dust behind her, and then quickly flew forward. She knew exactly what that flute could do, and if he blew the right note, this recon mission was over with.

_Tweeeeeeeee!!_

The note was sharp and penetrating and the pain it brought to her ears was enough to make Ryu trip on her own wind. She tumbled head over heels right past the operative and into the brush. The sound seemed to be having the same effecte on her teammates as they held their own ears in agony. The operatives that they were fighting took advantage of this and started to relentlessly attack, Nedgie being the only one with enough concentration left to put up a defense. Lee was overwhelmed, but too stubborn to succumb to the pain in his ears.

He was able to fend them off at first, but was slow to react to the later attacks from the two he was fighting. TenTen wasn't doing much better. Nedgie disposed of the three enemies he was fighting, and then made a bee-line for the one with the flute. He heard a roar of anger, and was cut-off by the rush of wind that went past him. Ryu was on the operative before he was even able to change his finger position.

She kicked the flute out his hands, gave another to the side of his head, then used her wind to throw him into a tree trunk. She then turned around to face Nedgie as he came to a stop. She saw Lee knock out his two opponents, and TenTen take down her other two as well.

"Woo-hoo!" she cried. "We rock! We got 'em all!!"

Lee smiled at her. "Nice job, Ryu-kun!" he said to her. She smiled back.

"You too!" She looked over at Nedgie.

"Thanks for backing us up," she said to him. He gave her a dry look.

"What else was I supposed to do?" he said. "At least you proved you're not as hopeless as I thought."

Ryu rolled her eyes. "Nice to know that I meet your approval," she said before running over to the mouth of the cave.

They regrouped at the mouth to decide what to do next.

"We should get what we can for information," said TenTen as she approached the opening. "It might help with the village's defenses."

"Hey!"

They turned and saw Guy walking across the small field. He jogged over to them.

"Leave the information for the Black Ops." he said when he reached them. "They'll know what to do with it more then you will."

He looked around at the fallen Sound ninjas. "Nice job, you guys. Let's head back to village so we can let the others get to work,"

They set off for the village, heading for the training sight. TenTen noticed Ryu seemed happier then she had been earlier. She smiled back at her.

"So I'm guessing violence makes you giggle?" she asked a bit jokingly. Ryu gave her a wild grin.

"You bet it does! Right along with sugar rushes and ridiculous actions!" she replied. This made both girls laugh.

Guy had hung back a little to talk with Lee and Nedgie. He waited until both girls were off a ways before speaking to the two.

"So," he said. "How did our small dragon do on her first mission?"

"If it was her first, she did well," said Nedgie. "I don't think her grandparents would be ashamed of her abilities. But they would of her blood."

"But it wasn't her first," Lee said. Nedgie looked at him.

"Really?"

"Yes. She told me about her past missions with her guardian in the Sound Village." he said. He looked at Guy. "Sensei, did you know that Ryu-kun can become invisible?"

He looked at him, a little puzzled. "You mean a transparency jutsu?"

Lee shook his head. "No, the hand signs were different," he said. He stopped and showed them the hand signs Ryu had taught him.

Guy and Nedgie watched, both of them curious about the signs differences to their own. Lee finished and that's when Guy began to laugh. Both students looked at him, wondering what was so funny. He stopped and looked at Lee.

"Thankyou Lee! Now I know how far she's gotten with the Akihara jutsus." Lee blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"That was the Shining Wind jutsu," he said. He smiled as he remembered. "Tetsu used to use it to trick the girls in class. Nearly drove the teacher insane when he kept disappearing right in front of him during lessons."

"So what you're telling us is that her father was a loose cannon?" Nedgie said, disapproving completely. "It was his complete destiny to go against his parents' wishes, what did they expect by disowning him?"

"Well..." Guy sighed. "I guess they were trying to get through to him, like they always were. Maybe if it had worked that one time, Ryu wouldn't be where she is right now..."

He said this while watching her walking down the road, laughing with TenTen. He did feel sorry for her; her parents were dead, and the rest of her family had pretended she had been until they themslves found their existance extinguished. He was amazed at her attitude though. Always smiling, bright and wondering at the world around her. _Ryu, you have no idea how proud Testu would be if he saw you right now,_ he thought. Lee looked up at Guy.

"Guy-sensei? Are... you alright?"

He blinked. "Uh... Yeah." he said, mentally shaking himself. "TenTen! Ryu! You're too far ahead!"

The girls looked back. "We are?" asked TenTen. She looked at Ryu and shrugged.

They came back and Guy smiled at all of them. "I'm curious, is anyone hungry?"

The entire team raised their hands. "Okay! Follow me to the restaurant district! Let's go!"

He took off quickly, leaving the team to run after him. _Good Lord, he's more childish then I am!_ Ryu thought. She saw Lee running next to her.

"Lee, why did Guy-sensei ask if we were hungry?" she asked him while running.

"He's probably buying us dinner." he said. He noticed Ryu's puzzled expression. "What is it?"

"Why in the world would he get dinner for us? There's no reason!"

"What, your teacher never rewarded you with food?" TenTen asked. The girl blinked.

"TenTen, I _lived_ with my teacher; he had to feed me," she said. She then saw the cloud of dust Guy was leaving behind him as he ran.

"What the freaking hek!!" she cried, exasperated. "Guy-sensei!! The food isn't going to disappear before we get there!!!"

Guy laughed maniacally. "Ryu! It's time you learned if you want something, you must fight for it!" he shouted to her.

"You're crazy!! It's just food!!"

Lee smiled at her as he ran. "Come on, Ryu-kun! The power of youth lives on good food!" he said. Ryu looked at him like he had lost his mind.

The small caucus race finished in the restaurant district around the time the sun was setting. The lights were on, and Ryu was able to see the village at night. She looked around at the colored lights that were strung here and there along the street. _It's kind of pretty here,_ she thought as she looked around. She thought back on the green forests and feilds she had seen on her way here, and the forest that was around the village.

It was completely different from the frost-swept land of the Sound village. Spring did visit the village, but only breifly. Then the snow would return and the landscape would be turned into an ink painting, the only color coming from the people and houses. She strayed from the group, easily distracted by the new night setting, as usual. She looked up and around at the star speckled sky.

The moon was a waning sliver in the sky, and she paused in her walk to look at it. She had always liked the moon. She looked around at the tiled rooftops and her eyes landed on a figure sitting on a peak. She looked a little closer and saw that it was Gaara sitting up there. She walked down the slightly darkened street that the building he was on top of was on and called to him.

"Hey! Gaara!"

He blinked, and looked around where he was. He hadn't bothered to look down. She shook her head, smiling.

"Down here!" He looked down and finally saw her. She waved to him, and he gave a small wave back.

"What are you doing up there?" she asked him. He looked around.

"Nothing, really..." he said, feeling silly that she had found him up on top of a roof. "What are you doing?"

She shrugged. "Guy-sensei is taking the team out for dinner." she said. "Don't ask me why."

TenTen, who had noticed first that Ryu was no longer with them, looked down the street that she was on. She saw Ryu on the ground, and then saw Gaara above her on a roof. She bit her lip, then called out to her.

"Ryu!" She looked back at her.

"We're at the restaurant! Come on!"

"Oh, alright!" she said. She waved to Gaara then ran over to TenTen and they started walking to the restaurant.

He watched them leave, and suddenly felt a sinking feeling. Had he lost one of the few friends he was able to make here, or was it just him? He hoped he hadn't. The lost memories that were connected to the girl were still out of his reach. He wanted to know why she seemed so very familiar, but completely alien at the same time.

Ryu and TenTen arrived at the restaurant to find that Guy, Lee, and Nedgie had already gotten a table. They had patiently waited for them, and after they sat down, Guy waved a waitress over. Ryu looked around, smelling both Chinese and Japanese food. Why exactly was she not surprised that they had picked to come here? Nedgie gave her a small cold look.

"Where did you go?" he asked. "You knew we were moving as a group."

"Oh, I... saw someone I knew and stopped to say hello." she said. She busied herself by looking at a menu.

TenTen looked at her. "You know Gaara?" she asked. This seemed to get Nedgie's attention, but they hadn't seen Guy shift his gaze away from the menu to Ryu.

She nodded her head. "Yes, I met him yesterday." she said as she puzzled over the food choices. "He was the only person who could give me directions to the library."

She looked at TenTen while pointing at a choice.

"What exactly is this stuff?" she asked. The girl smiled.

"Don't worry, a lot of it tastes good. What do you like? Sweet or spicy?"

"Sweet, I guess..."

TenTen pointed at one of the choices. She read it, and found it was orange chicken.

"You might like that then," she said. Ryu looked at the symbol next to it.

"But it says it's spicy," she said. TenTen shook her head.

"It really isn't, but it's a good mix of sweet and tangy."

Ryu looked back at the menu. "Oh..."

Dinner turned out to be a mixture of eating and challenges as Ryu found out. Guy and Lee both liked spicy food and would challenge one another to eat more and more spicy things. She watched this audacious behavior as TenTen showed her what to eat and what not to. Nedgie quietly chewed his food as he tried to ignore his teacher's antics. They split the leftovers and the team went their seprate ways.

Ryu decided to stick around the restaurant district to look around. She had come this way upon entering the Leaf village, but wanted to look around more. She followed her nose and her eyes to find different places that sold a variety of food. She looked into the places that she smelled good food coming from, judged them, then moved on to the next place she smelled. It was after she stopped in a ramen shop (with a rather blunt cook) that she realised she had no idea where she was.

She looked around at the lights and people, completely turned around. She bit her lip as she looked at street signs. She knew her house was between the restaurant district and the bazaar, but she had no clue where exactly. None of the signs she was looking at told her where Kutchki street was either. She wandered around a little more, heading toward the side streets.

It was when she had gone down one too many darkened roads, that she started to worry that she was actually lost now. She looked around at where she was, anxiety starting to bite at her nerves. The shadows around her weren't looking too friendly. Ryu rubbed her hands, trying not to let her imagination run away with her. Nothing bad was going to happen to her.

_I hope,_ the little voice in her head said. She started to mince down the street again, looking more carefully then she had. With every step she took, nervousness and wariness came closer to her mind. She had stopped to look down another dark street when a light touch on her shoulder made her shriek, and launch herself into the air. She readied her hands in preparedness to send wind at the offending hand.

It was then she saw it was Gaara, down on the street, and looking very confused at her reaction.

"Did... I scare you?" he asked, as she came down.

"Um... Not really," she lied, smoothing her frizzed hair. It had a habit of standing on end when she was surprised or frightened.

His expression was one of understanding. "Why are you wandering around? It's past ten." he said. She looked at him a bit sheepishly.

"Well... I'm kinda lost..." He blinked.

"Where are you trying to get to?"

"Kutchki street. Except I can't remember where it is,"

He nodded. "Follow me," he said. "I know where it is."  
She followed him as he walked down another side street. They walked silently as Ryu stayed close to him. She didn't want to get lost, and the darkness seemed a little less foreboding then before. Gaara noticed her nervous disposition.

"Ryu, are you alright?" he asked her, finding himself concerned.

"I'm okay," she said. "I just don't want to get lost again."

He stopped walking and looked down the street they had come to. He looked at her.

"Does this look familiar?" he asked. She came forward.

"Oh!" She pointed at a two story building with outside stairs.

"That's my house!"

She smiled at him in gratitude. "Thank you, Gaara!"

He nodded. "You're welcome, Ryu."

He walked her to her front door, and then looked across over her railing. He observed the view as she opened her door.

"You have a nice view of the village," he said as he turned to her.

"Oh, yes. It's very pretty at sunset."

He saw a large orange cat jump onto the window sill. It meowed loudly. Ryu looked at Al.

"Oh, Al! I'm sorry! I didn't leave you any food!" she said. She finally got the door open. She turned to Gaara.

"Do you want to come inside?" she asked. "I've got some leftovers from the restaurant if you want some. It's the least I can do for you helping me home."

The boy considered the suggestion for a second. It wouldn't be very polite if he refused, and he didn't have anything else to do tonight. After all, he really did have all night. He nodded his head, and she smiled. He followed her inside, and the cat immediately jumped in front of him.

He bit his lip, prepared for the worst. Animals didn't like him much. But the cat merely sniffed his feet then began to rub against his leg. Ryu giggled as she watched.

"I guess he likes you," she said as she put the food down on the table. She then got a plate, and some silverwere.

Gaara tentively petted Al on the head, and was surprised that the creature accepted his hand. The cat pressed itself against his palm, looking for a harder scratch. He satisfied him by scratching him behind the ear. A happy purr came from the cat as he did so. He looked up at Ryu, who had finished unwrapping the food. She gestured to it.

"You can eat whatever and whenever," she said as she walked away. He straightened up from his kneel, and walked over to his place.

He sat down, and took a small portion of the food that he could identify. He couldn't help but watch her as she walked around. She got a bowl for Al, and put it down on the floor. She then put some cold chicken in it, and the cat walked over to eat. She kicked her sandals off, and flopped down onto her bed. She rolled onto her stomach and cupped her chin in her hands.

"So," she said. "How was your day?"

He shrugged. "It was uneventful. Yours?"

"I went on my first actual mission."

"'Actual' mission?" he asked as he looked over at her. "What about those things you did with Dr. Masuda?"

"Aw, those don't count," she said. "All those were just interactions with the subject, and I only fought a spirit once. Even then, the Doc was there to back me up."

Those sounded like missions to Gaara. Maybe she had a different sense of importance or something.

"What did you do?" he asked. She smiled.

"Well, we were supposed to just observe this Sound operation cave, but then things got complicated after this Kabuto guy showed up. Do you know who he is?"

"Kabuto? He's one of Orochimaru's men. He's supposed to be very close to him." Gaara said. Ryu tried not to fidget as she thought on what might have happened if she hadn't turned invisble when she had earlier.

"Oh, that makes sense." she said. "Because Guy-sensei had to leave after we saw him. Something about telling the Black Ops. about seeing him. So he told us to check the cave out after he left. Which we did, but then we ended up fighting instead."

He looked back at her, and found nothing wrong with her except for a few scratches on her arms and legs.

"So, nothing happened to you?" he asked. She shook her head.

"No, not really. I just fell into a bush, that's all."

Al finished his food, and lied down in front of Ryu. She stretched her hands out and petted him. Gaara finished the rice he had been eating, and then took his plate over to the sink. He walked over and started to gently scratch the cat behind the ears. She observed him doing this and smiled at him.

"Gaara, you have gentle hands," she said. He looked at her.

"I... what?"

"You have gentle hands. It means you have a light touch."

He blinked, not sure what to say at this. "Oh... Thankyou."

He gave Al one final pat, then stood. He walked over to the door.

"Thankyou for the food," he said. Ryu smiled at him again.

"Anytime Gaara. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

He left, softly closing the door behind him. She watched him jump from her porch to another roof, and then start running. She turned over onto her back. _So that's what he does to get along with the insomina,_ she thought. _It mustn't be easy, not being able to sleep. _

She stood and started to get ready for bed. She took a shower, letting the warm water bathe her cuts and scratches. It was nice to be able to relax after what happened today. It was kind of hard for her to believe that she was ending the day like this after having a fight with some Sound ninja. Was this what it was like here?

Get up, have some breakfast, defend your village, and then come home in time for dinner? It seemed very strange considering what she was used to doing back with Dr. Masuda. She would get up, have breakfast with him and Inu, and then go to the classes the Doc made her take while was there. She would go back home to make lunch for all of them, feed Inu, and then bring the Doc's lunch to him during his break. After her classes were finished, she helped the Doc with his paperwork.

Once in a while they would take off to investigate a dig or a spirit medium, and that was it. Everything here seemed a tiny bit more relaxed with daily violence for the shinobi being the norm. Life at the university had been so sheltered from the war that she had to sometimes remind herself that there was one going on. She looked out her window at the moon while she thought on all of this. She sighed and then climbed into bed.

She guessed she would just have to get used to this, but she wondered if she would start to miss her old life. Well, there was one good change to all of this; she was actually meeting kids her own age instead of crazy college students. She had only been here for two weeks and she had already made a few friends. She turned over and closed her eyes. She just hoped that the view of the war wouldn't change her for the worst.



**G**uy had been looking over some files he had had transfered from the Second Hokage University in the Sound Village when there was a knock on his door. He got up and answered it to find an Onbu Black Ops. operative standing on his doorstep.

"Yes?" he said, a little confused at this appearance.

"We thought you might want to see this," the person said behind the mask. He looked to the red scroll in his hand. "Can I come in?"

"Of course," he said, moving so the person could walk in.

The person did and set the scroll on the table. Guy approached the table, and the person gestured to it.

"Open it. We found it among the things taken from the operative cave today."

He looked at the mask warily. He quickly opened the scroll and was immediately shocked. The scroll had only one thing on it; a full photo of Ryu. It looked like it had been taken without her knowing it, and by a spy as it was a good picture of her face and upper body but the rest of her was obscurred by leaves. It looked like it had been taken from bushes around the road to the village.

A piece of paper was in the scroll as well, and he picked it up. It was plain, white lined paper with his new student's adress written in scratchy handwriting. He looked at the Black Ops. member, his eyes wide.

"Wh-What does this mean?" he asked.

"We don't really know, but Orochimaru must have some interest in her. We're going to keep an eye on her for a while to see what happens."

Guy groaned as he sat down in a seat.

"Why does crap like this always happen right before exams?" he moaned. He looked up at the person. "And I'm guessing that we're not going to cancel the exams again because of this?"

The person shook his head, and this procurred another groan. Guy gave the Black Ops. member a leveled look.

"Alright, fine. But if anything happens to her, I'm holding you people responsible, got it?"

The person made no moves to show that they either accepted or resented his claim. The person then walked over to his door and let himself out. Guy got up and closed the door. He looked at the scroll and paper one final time before rolling it all back up, and putting it in drawer. He took a key and locked it.


	6. Paper, Pencils, and PeanutButter Ice Cr

**Paper, Pencils, and Peanut-Butter Ice Cream**

**T**he next couple of days were uneventful, except for Ryu having the sneaking suspicion that Guy was testing her abilities during training. In fact, he seemed to be doing it to all of them as he kept pushing each of his students to their limit, except Lee who didn't seem to have one at the moment. Each day of training was longer and harder, and Ryu kept falling asleep during the end of training, resulting in a sharp reminder from Guy to her to stay awake. It was nearing four o' clock when she started to nod off again during a lesson when Guy noticed her eyelids were drooping along with her neck. TenTen saw the same look in her teacher's eye she had seen every time he gave her a quick tap, and she was about to nudge Ryu when he went for her.

"Ryu Akihara!" he shouted as he approached her. "Will you please stay awake?!"

He was going to hit her head when her hand shot up, and caught his wrist. The next thing happened so fast that the rest of the team, except for Nedgie, couldn't really tell what happened. Ryu used her wind to push Guy down and then launched herself in the air. The launch caused her teacher to be shot forward, and she landed on her feet. Guy scrambled to get back on his own, and turned on his student.

"Ryu! What kind of disrespect was that!!" he demanded. The girl didn't even flinch.

Lee thought something was different about her, and he got up in front of her. He waved a bandaged hand in front of her face then turned to his teacher.

"Guy-sensei, I think she's sleep-walking." he said. Guy came closer and looked her in the face.

"Oh." He shook the girl. "Hey! Ryu! Wake up!"

She suddenly gave a start and looked at her teacher with wide eyes.

"Did I fall asleep?" she asked. He nodded his head as TenTen spoke up.

"Yeah, and you hit Guy-sensei when he tried to wake you up." she said. Ryu looked at him, embarrassed.

"Sorry, Guy. I didn't even know I was asleep."

Guy sighed. "It's okay," he then turned to face his team. "Alright, now team. I have a very important announcement."

His students looked at him expectantly. Guy fought his temper while looking at Ryu. Why couldn't those ANBU Black Ops. learn their lessons the first time around?!

"Due to what happened a few months ago, the allied villages have decided to hold the chuunin exams again."

This brought looks from all of his students, except Ryu. She raised her hand.

"Yes, Ryu?"

"Um... What're the chuunin exams?" she asked.

"Oh! I can tell you!!" Lee said excitedly. "They're series of tests that you go through so you can get to the next level of shinobi from genin which is chuunin."

"You mean like final exams?"

"Yes,"

"You've taken them before?" she asked him.

"We all have," said TenTen. "But the final rounds were interrupted by the Sound invasion, and only one person was able to become a chuunin because of it."

"Yes, that's why the allied villages have agreed to host another exam." said Guy. "It starts the day after tomorrow, and I've decided to recommend all of you."

Ryu looked around at her teammates. All of them taking a test at once? And if it was an exam, what did they have to study? She was about to raise her hand again to ask that when Lee started to talk.

"Oh, so that's why you've been pushing us!" he said, happy at his epiphany. "I thought there might be a reason."

"How deductive of you," Nedgie mumbled. Lee, who had heard what he said, was about to turn on him when Guy interrupted.

"Okay, all the teams taking the exams will meet at the Academy like last time. And there isn't going to be any training tomorrow either so take advantage of it to get some rest." he said. He started to walk away. "Be there at seven!"

Ryu sat there, still wanting to ask her question. The others got up, and she followed suite. Lee seemed more fired up then usual.

"Woo-hoo!" he shouted as he danced in place. "I get to try and prove myself again!!"

TenTen smiled; that was one thing she was glad about when it came to this. Another round of chuunin exams meant Lee got another chance at gaining a level. This gave them all another chance to prove their worth. She thought back on all of their defeats. Her thoughts were interrupted by Ryu.

"Hey, TenTen," she said. "If these things are exams, what do we have to study?"

She looked at her, a little confused. "Study? What do you mean?"

"Well," she said, feeling silly. "Back at the university, exams were giant tests in a subject you studied."

TenTen then understood. "Oh! Yeah, well, the first exam is written, but you can't really study for it," she explained. "All the questions are from different areas of learning. The next ones aren't really exams, but more like survival tests."

Ryu looked at her, more questions bubbling in her head. "What kind of survival tests?"

"Well, you're given a scroll which is either an earth or a heaven scroll. The object is to get the other kind of scroll, depending on which one you have. You need both to get into the Temple in the center of the Forest of Death."

The girl couldn't help but smile at the title. "The Forest of Death?" she said. TenTen looked at her seriously as they walked.

"Trust me, that name fits it completely. You wouldn't believe the kinds of things you'll see in there, if you past the written exam. After the survival test, the final exam begins which is a tournament in which the shinobi who made it to the Temple fight each other until one wins."

"Define winning," Ryu asked, suddenly getting the feeling that winning had another meaning to it.

"Well..." TenTen thought about her answer. She didn't want to scare her out of taking the exams.

"Well, the proctor will explain it all if we get that far this time." she said. She then smiled. "But we were able to do it last time, so I'm sure we'll make it!"

Ryu smiled back. "Yup! I'll try to do my best!"

"Great!"

Both girls went their separate ways. Ryu walked down the street with her usual bounce, but... She felt nervous. It bit at the back of her mind, and played on her nerves. She thought back on exam time at the university.

The charged air, the sudden bursts of noise as students vented their frustration, the cramming at three a.m... An exam she couldn't study for loomed menacingly in front of her. She wished Inu was here to comfort her. He was always good at relieving stress. She sighed.

Well, if she was going to freak out about something she had no control over, she might as well do what she always did when she freaked out. She stopped at gift shop on her way home, and bought two things: an incense burner and three sticks of vanilla musk incense. When she got home, she quickly lit some of the incense and fell onto her bed. Al quickly jumped up with her and she buried her hands in his soft fur. The cat curled around her throat as she petted him.

She didn't know how, but being near him was comforting. _Must be something about being warm and fuzzy,_ she thought. She turned over onto her back, Al following her onto her stomach. A knock at her door made her get up. She opened the door to find a messenger standing on her porch with a very big brown box in his hands.

"Package for Ryu Akihara," he grunted as he tried to shift the box's weight. Ryu quickly took the box to help him ease it onto the porch.

"Um... I'm Ryu Akihara," she said. The messenger held a scroll out to her and a pen.

"Sign here please,"

She signed her name, and the messenger nodded to her.

"Have a nice day!"

"You too! Thank you!"

Ryu kneeled down to see where the package was from, and was ecstatic to see it was from Dr. Masuda. She took out a shuriken blade, and cut the box open. She let out a joyful whoop as her eyes landed on the objects that were on top of all her things.

"My chakram!!" she shouted, jubilant. She held the gleaming, round blades up to the sun, the crooked Akihara grin present on her face. "My wonderful, beautiful, flying chakram!"

She smiled as she put them down. These would have to be her secret weapon during the exams. The touch of something furry brought her down from her violence-induced high. Al was looking over her knees, trying to see into the box. As it is with cats, he was curious to know what was in the box, and why it was more important then him.

She petted him; she would have to include her furry companion for this adventure. If Nedgie didn't have another cow when she brought him with her. What was with him and animals? The thought of animals then made her think of The Forest of Death, and then the written exam. She sighed.

What was she going to do? She was practically had OCD about an exam or any kind of test thanks to her schooling at the university where such things were cause to make you wish you had a really big, red panic button. Or at least a large padded room where you could scream your guts out in anxiety and frustration. She shook her head; she had to try and calm down. It wasn't even the night before, and she already wanted to start pulling her hair out.

She sighed as she got up with the box in her hands. She dropped the box on her bed and then put some food down on the floor for Al. The cat looked at her in question, and she kneeled down to pet him.

"I'm going out for a while," she told him as she did.

She then grabbed her messenger bag off of the table, and walked out the door. She locked the door behind her. She was going to the grocery store in search of something she coveted: peanut-butter ice cream. It was only thing she knew that would undeniably calm her down for sure. But where to find it?

To Ryu, peanut-butter ice cream didn't just have to say peanut-butter ice-cream on the label. The fine print had to say 'peanut-butter ice cream', and not 'light vanilla ice-cream with peanut-butter cup chunks' for it to qualify as peanut-butter ice cream. Finding ice-cream in general had been a challenge in the Sound village, but she hoped since the Leaf village was in a more temperate climate, it would be easier to find here. When she got to the grocery store, she was happy to find an entire section of ice cream. Now she could get down to business.

As she searched among the brands and flavors, she thought she felt a shift in the air in the store. She looked around, and saw someone she hadn't before. It was a boy around her age with black hair and thin, purple braids running through it. She saw he had a ninja headband on his arm, but the symbol wasn't for the Leaf village. From the look of it, it seemed he was from the Grass village.

_Well, Guy did say the chuunin exams were for all of the allied villages,_ she thought. But this boy didn't look too friendly. He gave off a cold air, as if he really did belong in the frozen food section. He seemed to feel her eyes on him, and he turned to look at her. Ryu had to stop herself from jumping when she saw his mismatched eyes; one brilliant green, and the other a bright blue.

He regarded her emotionlessly, and then turned away. She went back to looking at the ice cream, and, to her amazement, found two different brands that made real peanut-butter ice cream. She picked up one container from each brand, and the walked to the check-out line. She had just gotten there, when a large man roughly pushed in front of her.

"Hey!" she said, instantly angry.

The man turned around, and was revealed to be a boy. _A very big, tall, strong boy!_ she thought, almost immediately intimidated by his size. He seemed even bigger then Guy was. He looked down at her, condescending and offended at her objection.

"You say something?" he asked gruffly. Ryu meekly shook her head.

Usually she would stand up to someone like him; if they weren't almost as tall as three of her would be. She could see if she challenged him, he could easily break one of her arms. Her eyes then saw the Grass headband peeking out from under his spiky brown hair.

"Hey, Veraj!"

She turned to see another Grass ninja coming over to where she was. He had pure white hair cut short, except for two thick strands in front his ears which were held by round bands. When he reached the large ninja in front of her, he looked reproachfully at him.

"I saw what you did!" he said accusingly. "Cutting in front of a young lady. For shame!"

She saw the other Grass ninja, or Veraj as his name seemed to be, roll his eyes as the other one turned to her in an apologetic manner. His large, black eyes met hers.

"Forgive my friend here," he said. "He has no regard for the fairer sex. I, however, appreciate your lovely kind."

Ryu was fighting a mental battle not to blush as the boy came closer. She could completely tell this guy was hitting on her, and half of her wanted to start shouting at him while the other half wanted to giggle and blush like a normal girl. She then noticed his eyes weren't looking at her face anymore. Veraj snorted behind him, breaking the boy's eloquencey.

"C'mon Reks," he said. "Can't you find anything else to do around here besides picking up chicks?"

Reks whirled on him. "Do you have to do that?!" he asked, sounding upset. "Every time I find a cute one, you have to go and ruin it for me!"

He folded his arms while jutting his chin out stubbornly.

"I am a mere art aficionado. I judge the wonderful works of the female body, that is all."

"You're a freaking perv at thirteen, that's what you are."

Ryu couldn't help but get the feeling that this argument could get ugly at any moment. And now that she thought of it, Reks' (Was that his name?) eyes had decidedly roved her body a bit as he apologized for Veraj. This did make her angry, and this Reks person wasn't as big as Veraj, more like Nedgie's size. She was about to open her mouth and give him a piece of her mind when a cool, quiet voice broke in.

"What are you two doing?"

All three turned at the voice and Ryu saw the boy she saw in the frozen food section. He regarded them all with icy eyes. The other Grass ninjas' behavior visibly changed at his arrival, almost as if they had been caught breaking a rule by a parent.

"Nothing much," Reks answered.

The boy didn't look like he believed him as his eyes decidedly narrowed. He then looked at Ryu and came closer.

"We're _guests_ in this village," he said, emphasizing the word guests. "Sensei would expect you to act as such."

He then looked at Ryu again. "I'm sorry if my teammates bothered you," he said a bit stiffly to her. He gave a small nod, and then walked off.

"Aki," Reks said. "Where're you goin'?"

"The other line. It's shorter."

The other two followed him, Reks spinning around to wink at her, and that was it. Except that Ryu found a hatred boiling for the two idiots, she didn't have an opinion on the Grass team. Although she wondered about the one called Aki. He was the smallest of the three, yet seemed to command the respect of the other two. He could also be the strangest to look at, although Reks of the white hair was something to look at.

She paid for her food, and then started home. As she walked, an idea came to her. _If the Grass village is here,_ she thought._ I wonder if the Mist village is too..._ She hoped that it was because if it was, it gave her a chance to see an old friend.

She was a house away from her home when she saw Kiba walking around, staring, confused, at a piece of paper in his hand. Akumaru was intently sniffing the ground as if he was looking for something.

"Kiba!" she called to him. He looked up.

Akumaru gave a sharp bark, and then ran to her. He quickly started to run circles around her, still barking. Kiba ran up to her.

"Hey," he said in greeting. "I was just looking for your house."

"You were?"

"Yeah, I got the address from Lee, but all I could find was a pharmacy." Ryu had to resist laughing.

"Follow me," she said as she walked past him.

The both of them did, and a look of understanding dawned on Kiba's face when she walked up the stairs. She pointed at the address number on her door. The boy felt very silly now as Akumaru snickered at his feet.

"That explains a lot," he said, trying to recover a small bit of his ego. Ryu giggled.

She opened the door, and the two followed her inside. Al jumped down in front of Kiba from the window-sill like he had with Gaara. Both stared at one another.

"You got a cat?" he asked, nervous now for both him and Akumaru.

"Uh-huh."

Akumaru approached the feline, boldly sniffing it. Kiba bit his lip, hoping for a non-violent reaction from both of the animals. But the cat merely sniffed back, and circled the puppy once before sitting in front of it. The puppy then did something that Kiba had never seen him do before, which was he lifted his paw and tapped Al on the top of the head. Akumaru then took off, running around the apartment with the cat right behind him. The cat swatted the puppy's leg, and then the chase began again the other way around. Both teens looked at one another, wondering what exactly was with their animals.

"Tag?" Kiba suggested, thinking of the games he and Akumaru played.

She nodded. "Sounds right to me," she said. She put her bags down on the table.

"So, what brings you around?" she asked as she put the ice cream away.

He shrugged. "I hadn't seen you in a while so I was wondering how you were." He looked around.

"Guy got you a nice place," he said. He looked at her. "It's just you and the cat?"

"Uh-huh," she said. She then paused in putting away her food to look at Kiba.

"Do you want some ice cream?" she asked.

"Sure."

Ryu gestured for him to sit down as she set one of the ice cream containers on the table. She stepped around the barreling animals, and got bowls and spoons. She set these things down and then started to scoop out portions for her and him. While she did this, Kiba couldn't help but notice the air around her. She seemed kind of jittery; on edge. He wondered why. He started into his ice cream, and then asked.

"Ryu, are you okay?" he asked. She looked up at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." she answered, looking a bit puzzled as to why he was asking this.

Akumaru abruptly stopped running and barked at her.

"Akumaru!" Kiba said, disapproving at what the puppy had said to her.

"What? What'd he say?" Ryu asked. The boy folded his arms, frowning.

"Nothing important,"

He tried to ignore Ryu's questioning eyes then noticed the box on her bed. He jerked his head at it.

"What's that?"

"Oh!" She sounded happy now. "Dr. Masuda sent me my things from the university."

Her eyes brightened as she thought of showing him the chakram, but then stopped herself. She wondered if Kiba knew about the chuunin exams.

"Kiba," she said. "Are you in the chuunin exams?"

He nodded his head. "Yeah. Are you?"

"Uh-huh. Did you take them last time like TenTen, Nedgie and Lee?" she asked. When he nodded his head again, Ryu suddenly felt very inadequate.

Why hadn't she known about these things? Didn't Dr. Masuda think she was strong enough to go through something like this? Kiba cocked his head to one side, feeling the anxious energy around her again. He sighed.

"Alright, what's the problem?" he asked bluntly. She looked at him.

"Huh?"

"What do you mean 'Huh'? You're upset about something, aren't you?" he said shrewdly.

Ryu suddenly felt very embarrassed. She didn't really want to tell him she was so worried about the written part of the exam. What if he laughed at her? But Kiba's interrogative face told her that he was genuinely concerned about her. She sighed.

"I'm worried about the chuunin exams," she said, folding her arms. She held her forearms with her hands, and let the worry come out onto her face finally.

"Pfft, is that all?" he asked a bit sarcastically. "Ryu, every single genin in this city is worried about the chuunin exams! You'd have to be nuts not to worry about them! Well, unless you're either Shikamaru or Gaara, then you don't have to worry."

"Why don't they have to worry?" she asked him, curious.

"Because Shikamaru is already a chuunin and Gaara is practically the strongest genin around besides maybe Naruto." he said. He then smiled at her. "And me, of course."

Ryu laughed, but not at Kiba. His smile grew as he knew he had done what he wanted to which was make Ryu feel better about herself. _Mission accomplished!_ he thought. She smiled at him.

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Yep!"

She gave him the large grin. "Thanks," she said. "So I'm not being silly about being worried about the written part of the exam?"

He shook his head. "Not at all."

He started to eat the ice cream again before it melted completely.

"The chuunin exams," he said after he swallowed. "May be dangerous, but they pay off in the end in experience. Each time you go through them, you figure out more ways to protect yourself and when you get the hang of it, or you if you get lucky enough, you make it to chuunin."

He looked at her levelly, smiling. "There really isn't anything to be afraid of." he said reassuringly. "After all, Lee, TenTen, and Nedgie will look out for you."

Ryu somehow doubted that Nedgie would be concerned about her, but she knew she could count on TenTen and Lee. She sighed.

"Alright, if you say so," she said. She smiled at him.

Akumaru suddenly stopped running, causing Al to crash into him from behind. He yipped, picked himself up, and then barked sharply at Kiba. The brunette looked at him.

"What?"

"Ruff arf arf!"

A light dawned in his eyes as he remembered the promise he made to Kurenai. He was supposed to be at the training sight!

"Oh, yeah!"

H got up, and looked at Ryu. "Sorry, Ryu, but I've got to go," he said. She stood along with him.

"Oh, alright," she said.

She got the feeling it had to do with training so she didn't ask. He walked over to the door and opened it to leave. Ryu then thought of something as he was losing it.

"Oh! Kiba!"

He poked his head back in, an expectant look on his face. She smiled at him.

"Good luck on your exams!" she said. He smiled back.

"You too!"

He then left, Akumaru tapping Al on the head once and then following him outside. Ryu closed the door after them. Al came up behind her and rubbed her legs. She smiled as she bent down to pet him.

"It's good to have friends, isn't it?" she asked him. He looked up at her, his eyes friendly.

She picked up the ice cream bowls and put them in the sink. Well, at least it had done the trick, along with Kiba. She was completely relaxed now. _Now all I'll have to do is survive tomorrow, _she thought. She hoped she'd be alright tomorrow. Maybe if she started freaking out again she could pop by Gaara's house.

If what Kiba had told her was true, he'd have no trouble calming her down with his confidence. That is, if he needed any. The couple of times she'd been with him, she noticed that Gaara carried himself in a way that made him seem untouchable by anyone, even his own family. She wondered about it. Was it his personality that made him like that, or was it his psychological balance with Shukaku?

Anyway, she needed to return those books she had borrowed from the library, and she remembered where he lived.



**T**he next day dawned bright and hot. By nine 'o clock in the morning, the cicadas were already singing that it was eighty degrees and rising. Ryu had slept with the windows wide open and had constructed the portable fan that Dr. Masuda had sent her along with her things. She wondered how he knew she would need it. She slept late, or as late as the heat and her medication would let her.

Ryu took sleeping pills to regulate her drowsiness, and tendencies to not wake up. Now that she had her clothes back, she could dress any way she wanted. She found a dark blue tank top and a short, white skirt she could wear for a day like today. She had nothing to do, but try and stay relaxed and get those books back to the library. She found a small white choker among her jewelry, most of it being from her mother, and then decided to make a commitment to put everything in the box away when she got back.

She put on her sandals, put down three bowls of water with ice in them for Al, and then walked out the door. Ryu thought she might fall over when she got outside; it was really hot! She fanned herself with a hand as she walked down the street. As she walked, and tried to remember where exactly Gaara's apartment was, she started to notice the number of people out.

There really weren't many people in the streets as there usually was. It was kind of creepy. She found the shop where she had bought her gloves, and then looked for the porch that had had the smoke pouring out of it. She spotted Konkuro with his legs hanging over the railing. Was he wearing all black?! Ryu went inside the building, finding it pleasantly cool, and walked up to the third floor. She knocked on the door to find Temari answering it who was smartly dressed all in white. She looked surprised when she saw her standing there.

"Oh, hi Ryu," she said. "Come on in."

The older sister looked the younger girl over, wondering why exactly this girl had chosen to hang out with her brother. Then again, she was going to have to get used to this. Gaara having friends wasn't all that strange. Well, maybe it was a little strange considering his past. But it was a good thing that he was starting to make more contact with more people. Temari turned back inside and raised her voice an octet.

"Gaara! Ryu's here!"

Ryu looked around the small apartment, and then saw Gaara poke his head out of his door. He looked a little surprised to see her. When he stepped out, she saw he had traded his usual long sleeves for a sleeveless black top with the Suna symbol printed on it and some khaki shorts. His sandals were the same.

"Library?" he asked. Ryu smiled.

"Yup! How'd you know?" she said. He shrugged.

"Well, the books are due today." he said. He looked at his sister. "Do you want to come?"

She shook her. "Oh, no. I'm fine here." she said.

She almost felt like she was invading if she decided to come along with the two of them. Gaara walked over to the door, the books he had checked out in his hands. Ryu waved goodbye and then followed him out. Temari looked back at Konkuro.

"Well?" she said. "What do you think?"

Konkuro shifted to look at his sister. "I think Gaara's got a girlfriend,"

Temari rolled her eyes as she sat back on the sofa to read the magazine she had bought the other day. Why had she even bothered to ask. As the two teens reached outside, Ryu found herself suddenly dizzy. She paused in her walk and Gaara saw her sway. He put his hands up behind her to catch her just in case.

"Ryu? Are you alright?" he asked quickly.

"Yeah..." she said faintly as she gained her balance back. "Yeah, I'm alright. Whoo!"

She shook her head and then smiled at him. "Pretty hot, huh?"

Gaara gave her a small smile in return. "Yes, it is."

They started to walk to the library the both of them finding things to talk about. Ryu found out that Gaara was taking the chuunin exams along with his brother and sister. She asked a few questions out of pure curiosity about his sand technique. She then saw for the first time a hint of humor in Gaara.

"Ryu, you know I can't answer that," he had answered, trying to hide the smile that was peeking out at the corner of his lips.

Ryu's eyes went wide. "You're teasing me!" she exclaimed. The red-head continued to fight the smile.

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are!"

"No!"

"Yes!!"

Gaara objected one more time, and the laughter Ryu had been trying to restrain bubbled out of her throat. She laughed loudly, the kind of laugh that comes from laughing at a funny joke. Suddenly, she thought she noticed some other noise coming from Gaara. Had he...laughed? She looked at him, and caught the fade of a genuine smile on his face and the smallest hint of laughter coming from his mouth.

He looked rather shocked though. He looked at her, wide-eyed.

"I..." was all he could say. Ryu smiled at him, the crooked grin that Kiba always saw appearing on her face.

"You laughed!" she said happily.

"I did," he said, sounding very surprised. "I laughed! I really did laugh!"

"Yay!" Ryu nearly shouted, her happiness for him spilling out of her.

Gaara then found himself being hugged. He stood there, frozen, enveloped in Ryu's ready love. It was strange... He felt...warm. She then released him, still smiling.

When he didn't return some form of expression, she became worried.

"Gaara?" she asked, unsure. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Huh?" He was still trying to puzzle out the feeling that had slowly spread inside of him. He then realized his actions had made Ryu doubt her action.

"Oh, no. Ryu, it's okay." he said, trying to quell her uneasiness.

"It is?" she asked. He nodded.

"It's just..."

He didn't really know how to say it without it coming out funny. Ryu still looked at him with those eyes of hers. Her eyes could say a thousand things without her moving her lips or changing her expression. He had learned this in the short time he had known her. She was both puzzled and concerned.

Gaara took a breath.

"It's just that I've never been hugged," he said quickly. The girl's eyes went wide.

"What?" She couldn't believe it. He had never been hugged?

"Never? Ever in your entire life?"

Gaara shook his head. "Ryu, people have been afraid to touch me all my life."

As soon as he said this, he found himself in her arms again, nearly being squeezed to death. He couldn't speak he was so shocked, but could think. _Ryu..._ She then released him, smiling.

"That should make up for it all," she said. Gaara smiled his small smile at her in gratitude.

"Thank you, Ryu."

She smiled, and they continued to walk. Gaara found himself glad he had met her. Ryu was slowly bringing him back to being human, just like everyone else he knew was. He looked at her when he thought she wasn't paying attention, which he was pretty certain she wasn't at the moment. It was all so strange whenever he was around her.

They returned their books when they got to the library, and went to their respective topic areas. Gaara stuck around Ryu so he could reach books for her that she couldn't. He found it kind of funny at her insistence on reaching for things she couldn't possibly reach at her height. It was here that he realized how small she was compared to him and other people. Though he knew one person she was bigger then, if not by little.

They both gathered their books together, and he volunteered to see her home. After all, he was used to this kind of heat and she wasn't. Ryu still couldn't believe how hot it was.

"It never got this hot in Sound?" he asked. She shook her head.

"We have three seasons in Sound," she said as she held up two fingers. "Almost-fall, winter, and spring. That's it. The closest it gets to summer is sixty-nine degrees."

She looked at him. "What's Suna like?"

He looked up as he thought. "It's... kind of like this. Hot and dry, but never humid. And there's lots of wind at night."

"Hm..." Ryu thought a moment. "It sounds different from the Sound and Leaf village. I think I'd like to see it some day."

Gaara looked at her. "Really?"

She nodded. He smiled at her. "Well, if you ever do come, you better come and visit me first."

Ryu laughed. "Of course!" she said. "It wouldn't be a trip if I didn't come and visit you!"

The both of them talked about different things as Gaara walked her back to her house. He found himself enjoying his time spent with her. Ryu was a happy person, something he liked and found a small relief compared to his serious older sister and brother who were still adjusting to his new-found attitude. He didn't really blame them, after all they had lived with a nearly-possessed kid brother for most of their lives. He wondered if his new friendship with Ryu to them could mark some improvement.

When they made it to her porch, Al jumped up onto the sill to greet them. Ryu was relieved to see he wasn't dehydrated or as exceptionally hot as she felt herself being. After all, he had been born in the Leaf village unlike her.

"Hello, Al," Gaara said to the orange tabby.

The cat rubbed itself against the screen and the boy put his fingers to it to rub the fur that poked through the holes. Ryu giggled, and turned to him.

"Thanks for walking me back," she said, smiling. He smiled back at her.

"You're welcome, Ryu," he said.

He gave Al one final rub and then started to walk down the stairs. Ryu's keys jingled as she got them out of her pocket, and started to unlock her door. Gaara had already started to walk down the street when he thought of something. He turned around.

"Ryu!" he called to her. She turned. "Are you taking the chuunin exams?"

She nodded. "Yeah! Are you?"

"Yes!" He then thought a moment. "Are you nervous?" he asked her.

Ryu paused and then looked at the ground. She looked up.

"No, not anymore really," she said. She smiled. "You and Kiba helped with that!"

She thought she saw Gaara smile once again, and he waved goodbye to her. She smiled to herself and walked into her apartment. As the red-head walked down the street, he found himself keeping the smile he had given to Ryu a moment before. He really was glad he had met her. Now, if only he could figure out all the new emotions she was pulling out of him.



**R**yu woke up the next morning to find it just as hot as it was yesterday. She hadn't woken in the greatest of moods either. She may not have been nervous, but her dreams had terrorized her with what could be on the written part of the exam. She had only gotten five hours of sleep, something she didn't really react well with. So the tired dark-blonde dragged herself out of bed, took a shower, dressed herself in her normal clothes and ate a some-what energizing breakfast.

Al seemed anxious along with her as he nervously followed her around the house. As she went about putting down food for him, she wondered if she could take him with her. After all, if Kiba could bring Akumaru with him just about everywhere why couldn't she do the same with Al? Except Kiba used Akumaru in his fighting since it was part of his family's style. Well, she knew how to do stuff with animals like Al.

Maybe she could pull it off with a little practice, not to mention two tons of luck. Before she walked out the door, she tied Al's ribbon around his neck, and then walked out the door with him and her messenger bag. She had packed the usual things (pencils, paper, research material), but had included one more thing: a c.d. player. It had come with her stuff along with her c.d.s, including Orange Range, Utada Hikaru, and Flow. She had put in the Flow c.d. that morning so she would have something to listen to before and after the exam.

She walked down her street and joined the morning crowd, and kept a look-out for any other ninja walking in the same direction she was. She didn't see any, or was that the point? She made it to the academy and saw her team waiting outside for her. TenTen, Lee, and Nedgie greeted her in their usual fashion.

"Ryu-kun!" Lee nearly shouted as he jumped around. "It's here! It's here! And we're ready! Woo-hoo!"

The other three could only watch as Lee bounced around in the courtyard. TenTen sighed good-naturedly.

"Come on, Lee," she said, turning inside. "We've got to get inside and meet up with the other Leaf teams."

"Right!"

The four of them went inside and Nedgie looked down to see Al padding his way next to Ryu. He gave the cat his usual cold stare and Al reflected it back at him. He looked at Ryu.

"Why did you bring him again?" he asked bluntly. She shrugged.

"Company," she answered. If it wasn't for his usual veil of emotionless ness, she could of sworn the boy had pouted at this reply.

She looked around at the school the little kids went to to become genin. It definitely looked like a school, almost like a miniature university except with only one building. She followed her team as they knew their way around their old school. TenTen started to walk beside her.

"So, you think you'll be okay?" she asked. Ryu looked at her.

"Yeah, I think so," she said, smiling lightly. TenTen smiled back.

"Good. We wouldn't you to freak out on us,"

"No," Ryu said. She then walked quietly on.

_No, we wouldn't..._ she thought a bit apprehensively. She looked down to see her orange companion walking by her side. This was why she had brought him with her; to keep her calm and collected. They walked through some double doors and walked into what Ryu thought looked like a cafeteria. Except it was filled to the brim with genin.

There were so many; she could believe it! And from the look of it, they were all from different villages, or so their headbands claimed. Waterfall, Stone, Thunder, Sand, Sound, and every other village she knew existed were here. She looked around, and saw that a lot of the other genin were bigger then her. _Well, no one ever said being 5'1 was easy,_ she thought. Al came closer to her, his fur rubbing against her left calf. Lee then suddenly smiled at someone she didn't see.

"Sakura!" he cried happily.

He jumped over to a pink haired girl, smiling from ear to ear. The pink haired girl was standing with a blonde boy wearing orange. Lee chatted with the both of them for a few moments and then dragged them over to meet Ryu.

"Ryu," he said to her. "This is Sakura and Naruto."

The pink haired girl smiled her. "Hi," she said, sounding friendly. "Nice to meet you."

Ryu smiled back. "You too."

Naruto looked her up and down. She tried not to fidget as it looked like he was sizing her up or something. Sakura noticed and glared daggers at him.

"Naruto, what are you doing?!" she nearly shouted at him. "You just met her and you're already looking at her like an enemy!"

"Well," he said. "She kind of is, if you think about it."

Ryu could only look confused as Sakura started to berate him for his rudeness.

"Man, Naruto, do you always have to create a scene?" a voice said behind her.

She turned to see a boy with spiky black hair tied at the top. He didn't look very happy to be here. A chubby boy with swirl marks on his cheeks was standing behind along with a blonde girl. The blonde girl waved to Sakura.

"Hey, Sakura," she said. "Y'know beating on your teammate isn't going to help much later."

"It's helping me now!" Sakura said as she bopped Naruto on the head. Naruto didn't seem too bothered by this as he looked at the boy with spiky hair.

"Shikamaru, what are you doing here?" he asked. "Aren't you already a chuunin?"

The boy called Shikamaru sighed. "Yeah, I am, but you need a team of three to do the exam." he said. He sighed again. "This is such a drag."

"Oh, come on," the blonde girl said. "It might be fun."

"Was it fun last time?"

The chubby boy looked at Ryu. This was starting to grate on her nerves. Why was everyone looking at her?!

"Hey, Lee, who's the new teammate?" he asked. Ryu looked at him flatly.

"The new teammate can speak for herself, you know," she said, a little annoyed. Shikamaru looked at her.

"Okay then, who are you?"

"RYU!!!"

_I know that voice!!_ she thought as she spun around. A girl with light grey eyes and long brown hair was running over to her, the Mist village headband tied around her neck bouncing as she ran. Ryu smiled as large as she could.

"Sara! Oh my gosh, Sara!!"

She ran over to her and the two hugged. Sara smiled at her.

"I never thought I'd see you here!" she exclaimed. "I'm so happy to see you!"

"I know, me too!" Ryu said, so excited she was bouncing. She then realized something and gasped.

"Oh. My. God. Sara!! You can see me?!"

Sara grinned again. "Uh-huh!"

Ryu squealed she was so happy. She gave her another hug.

"Oh, I'm so happy for you!! When did that happen?" she asked. Sara rubbed her neck.

"Oh, a while ago. The Sacred Turtle restored my sight a few months after you and Dr. Masuda left," she said. She looked at her Leaf headband. "You joined the Leaf village?"

"Yeah, I came here looking for my grandparents and decided to stay." she said. Sara looked behind her.

"Is that your team?" she asked. Ryu nodded.

"Uh-huh. Where's yours?"

"Oh... Uh..."

Sara turned around to look around. Ryu gestured to her teammates to come over and meet her old friend from the Mist village. This was the blind girl she and Dr. Masuda had found in the Mist village with the spirit of the Sacred Turtle inside of her. She and the doctor had properly sealed it inside of her as the turtle's power had been slowly killing Sara by filling her lungs with fluid. She was really happy to see that the sealed had worked and the Turtle's power had even been able to give Sara back her sight.

Both teams met and Ryu saw a tall, blonde boy with shoulder-length hair and a thin yet shapely girl with black hair past her fingers standing behind Sara. The blonde boy smiled at her.

"Hello," he said friendly-like. "Are you Ryu?"

She nodded, and the boy held out his hand to her.

"Sara's told us about you," he said. "My name's Gegai."

"And I'm Saphira," the black-haired girl said.

Ryu shook hands with both of them, and her other teammates stepped forward, curious. She looked back at them.

"Sara, this is Lee, TenTen, and Nedgie," she said, gesturing to each person as she said her name.

Both teams exchanged greetings, curious about one another in their own way. Ryu had seen the look passed between TenTen and Gegai. She smiled to herself, finding it cute that TenTen had found someone of interest. Ryu looked around, searching for Gaara and his siblings. A few seconds of searching turned them up along with a few glances of the Grass team she had met the other day. She tried to avoid eye contact with them as much as possible.

She had the feeling that that Veraj person still had it out for her, and so did that Reks guy, except for a whole different reason. She tried not to think why. That Aki creeped her out too. The room was a buzz with conversations and then she saw someone stand behind a podium. It was a young woman with blonde hair and brown eyes in heels. She wasn't old, but she wasn't young either. She cleared her throat, and a jonin stepped forward.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Quiet everyone! The hokage is speaking!"

The room fell silent and everyone looked to the woman. She looked serious.

"Welcome, everyone," she said. " to the chuunin exams. You are all from different villages, different countries, but you're all here for the same thing. To gain the next level. There are three parts to this exam, and you are all here for the first which is written. You will all be assigned to a classroom and then you will go there to take the exam."

She gestured to a young man standing next to her. "Musashi will be your proctor for this part of the exam and should be treated with respect."

The young man stepped forward. "Alright, listen up!" he said. "You will all be going to room 214, got it? Proceed to that room and await further instructions!"

The buzz of people talking started again as people started to move out of the cafeteria. The Leaf teams stuck together and Ryu met up with Kiba and his team. Shino and Hinata remembered her from the first time she was there. She tried to be friendly with the quiet Hinata after getting the impression that Shino didn't talk much either, but she wasn't cooperating. It seemed the presence of Naruto made her a bit flighty.

Ryu looked around at the teams and saw a bunch of love lines among the kids. What, did this village run on couples or something? From what she could tell, both Naruto and Lee liked Sakura, and Hinata liked Naruto. If you included the Mist team, TenTen had her eyes on Gegai and, she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw it, had seen Nedgie take a closer look at Saphira when he thought no one was looking. _I'm glad I don't have to worry about that kind of thing, _Ryu thought.

She was too busy with training and research to think about some guy, and even then, she hadn't found anyone of interest in the Leaf village. She hadn't met anyone that interested her in that way in all the places she had been. She wondered about it sometimes why she didn't really find anyone attractive. Well, she could think about this later; she had an exam to take! When her group got to the room, she looked around at the remaining seats and saw a small empty area that seemed to be forming around Gaara.

The same thing seemed to be happening with his siblings and the Sound team. _Wait, _she thought. _the Sound team is actually here?_ She looked again; yes, there was a Sound ninja in the room. But only one. It was a girl, distant and pale with shiny black hair and dark eyes who seemed completely withdrawn from the world around her.

Ryu wondered why she was even here, but then again, there was only one Sound ninja among many other ninja teams. She sighed and decided to sit near Gaara, she might as well keep him company if he was going to ostracized along with his siblings. She sat a seat away from him, and smiled at him. He smiled back, and leaned over to speak with her.

"I saw you with some of the Mist ninja," he said quietly. "Do you know any of them?"

She nodded. "Yup. I know Sara from the Sacred Turtle assignment. She's the medium for it, and I haven't seen her in a while." she said. She smiled. "I was so happy to see her! She's really cool; you have to meet her."

"I'll try," he said.

Musashi then walked into the room and the remaining genin scrambled into empty seats. Ten other jonin filed into the room behind him, and the young man looked serious.

"I'm going to explain exactly is going to be happening with this test," he said, authority in his voice even though he looked so young. "There are going to be ten questions on this exam. Nine of them will be on the exam handed out and I will give you the tenth at some point in the hour."

He then gestured to the other ten ninja sitting to the side of the room.

"These ten jonin are going to be watching every move you make. And if they catch you cheating three times, you're out of the exam, and so is your team."

Ryu thought this was kind of silly. Who would be stupid enough to try and cheat on something like this? You would also be taking your team down with you if you got caught enough. Musashi changed the way he was standing.

"Also, there's one more thing you need to know," he said. "Every person on your team has to pass or none of you passes."

Ryu blinked a few times after he said this. Everyone had to pass? She thought she was going to pass out; no, she was going to pass out. She couldn't take this kind of pressure! She felt light headed. Her feet and fingers started to tingle. Oh, the whole world seemed to start spinning.

Then the exam was put in front of her. She blinked once more to clear her head and rummaged inside her bag. She found a pencil, and felt her hand being rubbed against. She looked down to see Al looking up at her with an encouraging face. She gave him a grateful pat and went back to the test. She took a breath to settle her churning mind and looked up at Musashi.

"And...begin!"

There was a flurry of noise as papers were turned over and pencils hit the desk and then all was quiet. Ryu looked to the paper to se which questions she could do first. The first question was a pattern question concerning scrolls which she solved easily. She had always been good with reasoning. The next one concerned math along with reason which she solved after some thought and some trial-and-error calculations.

She looked at the third question finding that it had elements of the last two combined with chemistry. _Wait a second, _she thought. _There's a pattern here!_ She looked at the next six questions and saw that she was right. All the questions were built on top of another so if you couldn't solve the last one, you couldn't solve the next. _That's actually pretty clever, but it's bad news for the students,_ she thought.

The addition of chemistry in the next problem already spelled trouble for her. The element in the question after that she could solve but not without the chemistry from the problem she was on, she couldn't solve it. She was in trouble. She couldn't help but look around, this being what she did when she was taking a test when she was nervous. A glimmer in the air above her made her pause for a second.

She discreetly looked up and saw a mirror between the rafters. She kept her jaw from dropping open when she saw some wire that was attached to it lead to TenTen. She then saw Lee change his headband. She then noticed Akumaru sitting on top of Kiba's head, like he always was, but he was looking around the room. A quick look to the other side of the room, and she saw the Sound girl with her eyes closed but with her pencil moving.

What the hek was going on here?! She looked back at her paper so it wouldn't look like she was doing anything when she noticed sand gathering on her paper. The sand slowly formed words which turned into a shifting _Do you need help?_ Ryu then understood. The point of this whole exam was to test their spying skills.

After all, that was part of the whole shinobi agenda. She sighed, something commonly done during tests. Gaara was patiently waiting for some kind of response from her, and felt a stirring near his ear. He thought he heard whispering and softly heard Ryu's voice say, "No,"

He nodded; at least he knew that she knew what this was all about. That being understood, Ryu now sat in her seat, trying to figure out a plan as she stared at her paper. She felt paws on her lap and looked down at Al. She petted him and then had an idea. But she would need to figure out who to cheat off first before she did anything.

It would need to be someone who either wouldn't notice, or wouldn't mind her cheating off of them. She thought of that boy, Shikamaru, but then tossed the idea away. She had the feeling that she shouldn't bother him so she started to think of other people. Temari perhaps? She had the advantage of being older and more experienced.

But would she mind? Ryu didn't think so; Temari knew who she was. She then decided to use the Sound girl after Temari. Her pencil hadn't stopped moving since the exam had started so she was a good bet. So, with plan in mind, she laid her head down and sighed, trailing her hand near Al.

She lazily petted his back and after a moment, stopped. Al then left her side as he made his way through the sea of feet underneath the desks. He walked over to wear Temari was sitting, writing busily as she knew how to solve most of the problems. She was on question six when she felt something furry brush against her leg. She resisted the urge to jump and looked down to see an orange tabby cat rubbing against her.

The cat wound it's way between her legs, purring the entire time, and then looked up at her. It had purple eyes. Temari thought this was strange; she had never heard of a cat with purple eyes. Then again, she was in the chuunin exams so she should be used to seeing strange things by now. That's when she realized that this cat might be an instrument to cheat off of her.

That was when she suddenly felt like she dropped something. Temari was about to shoo the cat away from her when it left of it's own accord. That had been strange. She scratched her head, shaking the feeling of losing something and continued with her exam. Al returned to the motionless Ryu and rubbed against her.

Her fingers twitched and she then lifted her head up off of the desk. She stretched and then picked her pencil up off of the desk and started to write. Well, that had been easy enough. She wrote down the answers that Temari already had written down and then yawned. This was tiring, even if she was just sitting here.

There was a lot of stress in the air as the hour was drawing to a close in about ten minutes. All she needed was the answers to the next three questions on the paper and then wait for the proctor to give the final question. She put her head back on the desk and the same thing that happened before happened again. Al wandered over to where the Sound girl sat, now holding her chin in her hands since she was done with her test and was patiently waiting for the tenth question. The girl nearly jumped out of her seat when she felt the cat rubbing against her.

She looked down at the friendly face and petted the cat with a gentle hand. That was funny... Why did she suddenly feel like she was being drained of something? She finished petting the orange cat and then let him leave. He went back over to Ryu, who straightened up and went back to writing. She was just finishing up the ninth question when Musashi cleared his throat.

"Alright, who's ready for the last question?"

Most of the groups' hands went up, and he nodded.

"Okay, the last question is simply this," he said. "Yes or no. That's it; just answer yes or no."

Ryu thought she might fall over. Yes or no? What kind of question was that? How in the world could you answer either yes or no if you didn't know what the question was? This was lunacy!!

She looked around at the shinobi, some of them looking as confused as she did. But some raised their hands and said yes or no. She noticed most of the Leaf teams were saying yes along with the Sand team. The Sound girl raised her hand after a moment of hesitation and said yes. A few other shinobi answered no.

Ryu felt very inadequate at this point. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she just make up her mind? There were so many doubts in her mind as to what the question could be and what the meaning of her answer could be if she answered either yes or no. What if the question was something like, "Do you want to be a shinobi?" or "Are you sure you want to continue?"

She kept biting her lip and nervously looked around until she felt dizzy. She had to make up her mind before she ran out of time. Lee, TenTen, and Nedgie had already all said yes, and none of them had made any moves as to what this meant. She sighed and decided to take a leap of faith. She raised her hand, but before she could get a word out, Naruto jumped out of seat.

"YES!!"

This sudden burst of noise sent the room in a small uproar as a few other shinobi jumped and said yes. Others were so blown out of their orbit of thinking they shouted no. Ryu had been so surprised she hadn't said a word. Musashi sighed.

"Okay, which ones said no?"

The shinobi that had raised their hands and he made a few marks. He then asked the same thing of the shinobi who had said yes. Ryu then raised her hand again. He looked at her.

"Have you decided?" he asked. She slowly nodded her head. "What is it then?"

She bit her lip, and tried to keep her heart from exploding.

"Y-yes," she said quietly. He seemed to hear her and nodded his head.

The other shinobi in the room finally finished the test and gave their answers. Musashi then smiled at all of them.

"All of you are done, yes?" he asked. All of them nodded. "Great. Now, those who answered no to the tenth question, don't pass."

Bursts of sighs and groans were spread across the room. TenTen looked back at Ryu and smiled. Musashi cleared some papers off of his desk.

"Those who said yes go on to the next part of the exam," he said. He looked at the room. "Congratulations. The reason for the tenth question is simple: a shinobi must always be sure of himself. If he lets his doubts do the thinking for him, they will be the death of him sooner or later. Now..."

Musashi's small speech was interrupted by a crashing at one of the windows. Ryu jumped out of her seat, ready to run when she saw that the person who had come from through the window was a ninja. She sat back down as she let a breath out in relief. The woman ninja looked back at Musashi who sighed.

"Anko, it's the same thing with every exam. Do you have to do that?" he said, sounding a little annoyed, but more tired then irritated.

Anko shrugged. "I might as well give 'em a good scare," she said. She looked around the room imperiously. "So, how many are left?"

Musashi looked to his papers. "Forty-four out of one hundred and sixty-seven."

Anko looked at him. "That many, huh? Well, I guess you did a bit better then Ibiki did. Then again..."

She looked at Naruto. "I bet the orange blabber-mouth wasn't so loud this time."

"Hey! Who are you callin' a blabber-mouth?!"

Anko ignored this remark and looked around the room. Ryu wished she would stop looking at all of them like she was. She was scaring the crap out of her with just the way she held herself.

"Alright, you little maggots!" she said with authority in her voice. "Those of you who passed better be ready for tomorrow! Come to the northern gate of the Forest of Death and bring your gear tomorrow morning! Now, get out of here!!"

The shinobi dispersed through out the room, some complaining and some talking excitedly. Ryu looked at Gaara.

"So, do you feel better now?" he asked. Ryu looked at him incredulously.

"What kind of sick, twisted exam is this?!" she nearly cried. "I got all wired up for nothing!"

He shrugged. "That's what happens when you're a ninja," he said. "You run into sick, twisted things. You should know that with your past history."

Ryu's eyes went wide and Gaara noticed a complete change in her.

"Wh-what do you mean?" she asked, sounding a bit alarmed. Gaara looked at her a bit shrewdly.

"With your spirit assignments." he said a bit slowly. "Right? I'm sure you ran into lots of spirits who had a sick sense of humor."

She blinked and then seemed to remember herself. "Oh, yeah," she said a bit distantly. She smiled at him.

"Sorry, for some reason I thought you were talking about something else," she said, sounding a bit confused. She shrugged. "It must of been my imagination."

She started to walk away and she was quickly pounced upon by her excited team.

"Ryu-kun!!" Lee nearly shouted. "You did it! You made it to the next part of the exam!!"

He nearly started to bounce off of the walls. "Woo-hoo! The power of youth has prevailed once again!"

TenTen laughed at his actions then looked at Ryu. "See, it wasn't that horrible, was it?" she said. She smiled at her.

"No, not really," she said. She then sighed. "But now we have the Forest of Death tomorrow morning. What am I gonna do now?"

"You mean what are we going to do?" TenTen corrected her. "The Forest of Death is a group survival test. If you stick with us, you'll be just fine."

They left the room talking, mostly the others informing Ryu of what she would have to bring along with her ninja gear. As she walked home, she watched as the other ninja teams dispersed, Sara leaving with a wave and a smile as her team went back to the hotel they were staying at.

"When the exams are over I'll visit you!!" she promised as her sensei dragged her away from her long-time friend.

Ryu had laughed and said yes. She looked around as she walked, seeing if there was a pet store around. She finally found one and went inside, telling Al to wait outside for her. She came back with a tin and opened it. She took out a fish treat for Al, who immediately started to paw her knees to get it. She knelt down and gave it to him.

"This is for helping me earlier," she said to him. "I hope you didn't mind."

Al did something between a purr and a meow so she guessed her didn't mind. When they got home, she collapsed onto her bed, exhausted after the day she had had. It had been years since she had used that jutsu, was it two maybe since the last time? She sighed as she petted Al.

As she learned about demons and their spirit kin, Ryu had learned how to deal with her human spirit. She learned how to break off tiny splinters of herself and put them into animals. This was a kind of technique used by demon hunters so they could send an animal in their stead to check out a piece of dangerous terrain or territory. But it was also useful as a spying tool. As she had inhabited Al, by getting in contact with the target she could grab hold off small pieces of their spirit as well.

It was mainly an information gathering technique, but it could be used as a deadly weapon. By breaking off enough of a person's spirit, you could either kill them or drive them mad. Ryu had learned early on what to do and what not to do when it came to spirits and their control. She was just glad that it hadn't backfired on her considering she hadn't used it in two years. The rest of the day went smoothly and normally, except with her getting ready for the next day's test.

TenTen had told her to pack enough food for three days and some medical equipment. As she went about putting stuff in her bag, she wondered about her chakram. Should she bring them? They could be an effective device against attacks. She decided she should and then packed the dangerous rings in with her stuff.

She sighed as she looked at the stuffed bag. This was going to be a long three days.


	7. Special Author's Note

**Super special Author's Note!**

Hola, Nihao, and Conichiwa! As writer of the White Wings of Darkness series, I'm writing this super special author's note for two reasons: one is good and the other is bad. The good reason will come first as it is simple and nice. I know people usually like the bad news first, but I like to have the short things come first so the short ruled over the bad news. Yup, that's my crack philosophy. Here's the good reason: I wanted to thank the people who reviewed the story. I know this is a strange category to put this story in, so for the people who managed to find it, Thank you! And thanks for being patient as I am a slow writer and prone to writer's block. Now for the bad reason. Me being the dork that I am, I have damaged my floppy drive, and I'm not sure if it's going to be fixed. Ever. So this directly screws me as I use my floppies as transfer devices for putting things in here. ((You think it's bad now, ooh, just wait until the school-year starts up! Then I'm really in trouble!!)) This being said, the next chapters of W.W.D. may be far and between. If it looks like I won't be able to continue the series, then I'll put up a story summary, special for the people who have been reading. Thanks for your time!

-Ryu


	8. Into The Dark

**Author's Note: **Woo-hoo! I did it! I got a chapter up even with the broken floppy drive! Yay! Okay, my wonderful fans, I've kept you waiting long enough! Enjoy my efforts!

-Ryu

**Into The Dark**

**R**yu walked her usual bouncy jaunt as she made her way to where the entrance to the Forest of Death was located. She had gotten directions from TenTen the day before and was heading there now. She had agreed to meet the team at the entrance. As she got closer to the forest she could hear the buzz of the forty-four people who had passed the written part of the exam. She had decided to bring Al along with her and he sniffed the air coming from the forest as he walked beside her.

He gave a nervous grumble as they stopped a few feet away from the chain-link fence that separated them from the forest. Or was it separating the forest from them? She petted Al for comfort and looked around for her teammates. Even in a crowd of forty-four, it was hard to find them. She stopped her search to take in the environment as she looked to the forest once more.

She seemed to be getting why they called it the Forest of Death as she looked at it more closely; it gave off a foreboding aura as she tried to see into the dark places between the trees. It didn't look like much sunlight got in there. There was also so much green, it nearly overwhelmed her. The massive amount of trees and underbrush almost scared her.

She sighed as tried to quell the anxiousness inside her. She was both calm and nervous about this part of the exam as her insides shivered, but her mind didn't. She took a step backwards to turn her vision away from the forest and to look for her teammates. She bumped into someone as she did so.

"Oh, sorry," she said as she turned around to see who she had run into. She then saw that the person was Reks, one of the Grass ninja from the other day.

_Oh no,_ was all she could think as she looked at him. He smiled when he saw her, and she started to back away from him. She did not want to have to deal with him right now.

"Well, hello there," he said, sounding a bit too friendly. "You're that girl from the grocery store the other day, right?"

"Uh…maybe," she said, her mind completely on getting away from him.

"Yeah, you are! I didn't get your name," he said as he got closer to her.

Ryu heard Al give a low growl as he did so. _Maybe he'll bite him if he gets too close, _she thought hopefully. It was clear he wasn't going to leave her alone until she gave him her name as his eyes never left her. His body wasn't getting any closer to her, but she felt like her space was invaded anyway.

"It's Ryu," she said quickly as she turned to leave. "Good-bye."

"Whoa! Hey, don't be so hasty!" he said as he quickly jumped in front of her. "I haven't told you my name yet."

Ryu was starting to lose her temper with this guy. Why couldn't he just take a hint and leave her alone?

"I already know your name," she said, annoyed. "It's Reks."

The white-haired boy smiled. "Oh-h, so you've already heard about me?"

Okay, now she really was annoyed with him. Small pin-pricks of purple were starting to appear in her brown eyes. She rolled her eyes in response to his ego.

"No," she said flatly. "Now, if you don't mind, I have to find my teammates."

She started to walk the other way when he got in her way again. He quickly caught her wrist with a devilish grin. Her eyes were now half-and-half between purple and brown; she was getting angry.

"You can be on my team," he said suggestively. Ryu wanted to slap him, but before she could…

"**GRRR-ARF!**"

_Chomp!_

Reks immediately howled as Akumaru sunk his sharp puppy teeth into his ankle. As he hopped around, the puppy held on, growling all the while. Kiba jogged over, looking both curious and surprised as to what his dog had done.

"Akumaru! Let go!" he commanded. The puppy dropped from his hold, and Reks immediately whirled on him, anger flashing in his eyes.

"What is wrong with your dog?!" he snarled.

Akumaru barked a series of growls and arfs, stopping Kiba from apologizing. He then turned to Ryu, completely ignoring Reks.

"Ryu, is this guy bugging you?" he asked swiftly.

Reks was about to butt in, but Ryu jumped before he did. "Yes!" she said as she took a step behind Kiba.

"Oh really?"

Kiba looked levelly at the frowning boy. Reks obviously wasn't happy that someone had intervened, especially another boy. His frown deepened as he measured him up, Kiba being taller and bigger then him by a few inches. His growling companion wasn't helping either.

"And you are?" Kiba asked.

Ryu wasn't sure what was going on, but it seemed like the both of them were fighting a silent battle. Reks folded his arms as part of his response.

"Reks Tachiki," he said. "You?"

"Kiba Inuzuka,"

Neither of them moved as they stood in front of each other. Ryu was glad that Kiba and Akumaru had come to her rescue, but she didn't want a fist fight over it. But by the way things were looking, it seemed more like a staring contest then anything. Kiba ended it by turning to her.

"So, how long has this guy been bothering you?" he asked deliberately.

Ryu opened her mouth, but Reks finally got his chance to butt in.

"I wasn't bothering her, I was just being friendly," he said.

Kiba looked at him, his temper showing with his canines.

"I was asking her, not you," he nearly growled.

"And if she took it the wrong way?"

"Why should she if you were behaving correctly?"

Reks seemed visibly irritated now. "Why should I answer to you?" he snapped. "Who are you, her boyfriend?"

This didn't phase Kiba one bit. "No, but I'm her friend and I'm not going to let some white-haired creep take advantage of her."

Reks was now seething with anger, and when Veraj came up behind him to see what was wrong, this only seemed to embolden him. Veraj took one look at the situation, and smiled a wicked smile as a mean glint entered his eyes.

"Hey, Reks, need some help?" he asked. He looked at Ryu. "Oh, it's you."

His smile widened as he leaned I to Reks. "If you get the boy, can I beat on the girl for the other day?"

"Be my guest,"

"What did I do?!" Ryu exclaimed, changing her stance to defend herself while trying to gather her courage.

His size still intimidated her, and she had to resist her instinct to run from him. She still cringed though, her fear getting the best of her. Veraj smiled a toothy grin as he cracked his knuckles.

"Women need to learn their place," he said menacingly.

Both Akumaru and Kiba growled as Ryu was able to get a hold of herself enough to try and harness her wind.

"Ryu!"

A familiar voice then broke through the charged air as Lee ran over to his teammate. But as soon as he did, he wondered whether he should of come over. The large ninja seemed ready to jump on Ryu and his expression changed as he sized up the situation.

"Who are you?" he asked. Veraj turned on him, his blatant disregard for respect emanating from him.

"None of your beeswax, small fry," he said gruffly.

Lee took a stance. "If you intend to do harm to my teammate, then it is my 'beeswax,'" he replied smoothly.

The air was charged with a raucous kind of energy. It seemed like at any moment the teens would jump and tear each other apart.

"Alright, you clowns!!!" Anko suddenly roared at the front, making everyone present jump. "Shut your traps and stand up straight!"

Lee dragged Ryu over to where the rest of the team was to listen Anko speak. She cleared her throat before she continued.

"If you haven't already figured it out, the next part of the exam is a survival test. You all get kicked out into the Forest of Death for five days, no breaks and no outside help. In this forest is a tower you have to get to by the time the five days are up with two scrolls."

She held up two scrolls; one saying heaven, and the other saying earth.

"Your team only gets one of the two and the goal is to get the other to you can get into the tower."

She smiled a wicked smile. "Simple, right?"

A wave of uneasiness seemed to settle across the crowd. This only seemed to make Anko smile even more.

"And there's one more thing…" she said while rummaging through a pocket. She pulled out a piece of paper. "You need to sign these consent forms. So if anything happens to you in there the Leaf Village can't be held responsible."

She then started to hand out the forms to the teams. She continued to explain the rest of the exam as she did so.

"There are 44 locked gates that go into the Forest of Death. After you hand in your forms and pick up your scroll, you'll go to one of these gates to start from. You'll all be let in at the same time so there's no rush."

Ryu signed the form in her wavy handwriting, and then walked along with her team over to the tent to turn in their papers and receive their scroll. Theirs turned out to be a heaven scroll. That meant they would have to find an earth scroll in the forest. They decided to go to gate number three and wait. While they were waiting, Ryu thought f something. She picked Al up.

"Wait a second, okay you guys?" she asked. Lee and TenTen nodded while Nedgie glared daggers at her.

"Be quick," he grumbled at her,

She didn't bother going for an aggravating come back; she was too busy trying to figure out how to do this. She nervously approached Anko.

"Um… Ms. Anko?" she said. The dark-eyed woman turned.

"Whaddaya want, kid?" she said. She looked at the orange tabby in her arms. "Is that stuffed animal going with you?"

She shook her head. "That kind of it," she said. "Do you know Guy Might?"

Anko nodded, and Ryu held Al out to her.

"Do you think…you could bring Al to him?" she asked tentively. "I don't think it would be a good idea if I bring him with me."

Anko sighed. "Well, at least you realized this now instead of later," she said. She held out her arms. "I'll give him to Guy."

Ryu gently placed Al into the proctor's hands. He squirmed a bit as he realized what was happening and meowed loudly in protest. Ryu placed a finger on his nose, and smiled.

"It's okay, Al," she said. "I just don't want you to get eaten by something unrecognizable."

The cat seemed to sigh at this and climbed onto Anko's shoulders. She sighed.

"Alright, kid, go back to your gate." She said. She scratched Al behind one of his ears. "I'll watch your cat until Guy gets here."

"Thanks," said Ryu as she walked away.

She jogged back over to her team and TenTen looked around her.

"Where's Al?" she asked.

"Abko's going to give him to Al while we're doing the survival test," she said. She frowned slightly. "I didn't like the idea of him getting eaten by a giant spider or something."

The lock suddenly came open on the gate and they heard Anko's traveling voice shout, "GO!!!"

The team leapt as fast as they could into the dark and inhospitable forest.



**Day Three**

**T**he team of four, covered in dust, mud, and a number of grubby things finally found a cool place beside one of the rivers that ran through the forest. Ryu sat with a sigh of relief. She had never felt so tired in her life. It felt like they had been in this forest forever. Even worse, they had been in it for three days and they had yet to find a team with a heaven scroll. Even with Nedgie's Byakugan, they hadn't been able to find anyone. The notion that everyone had gotten to the tower already was preposterous, but this crazy idea kept sneaking into Ryu's train of thought. She shook her head, trying to get the exhaustion away from her for a moment. TenTen looked at her.

"Hey, Ryu? Are you alright?" she asked. She had noticed she was getting a little pale. She nodded.

"Yeah, I'm just really tired…" she said letting the sentence trail off.

Lee came up from the riverbank, completely soaked.

"Well, my tired friends," he said. "You needn't be as tired anymore!"

He plopped a catch of fish down he had been able to get. He smiled at the girls while Nedgie inspected the catch. He looked at Lee.

"I hope you got firewood," he said. Lee's smile disappeared.

"Uh… No, I didn't."

Nedgie sighed as he got up. He looked back at the others. "I'm going to get some wood," he said. "Try not to get in trouble while I'm gone."

With that he walked away. Ryu frowned as he disappeared into the forest.

"'Try not get into trouble while I'm gone!'" she mimicked. She blew air out in a dissatisfied "Harrumph!". She looked at TenTen and Lee.

"Jeez, how do you guys put up with his attitude!" she said. TenTen shrugged.

"You get used to it, is all," she said. She started to untie the fish Lee had gotten. "And there's other things you have to take into consideration."

Ryu folded her arms. "Like what?" she grumbled. "That he's arrogant and emotionless?"

Lee tried not to laugh as TenTen looked at Ryu. "Ryu, Nedgie's a genius and one who hasn't exactly had the best time of it…"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, neither have I, but you don't see me treating everyone else like dirt."

Lee looked at Ryu. "Ryu, you're not acting like yourself." he said cautiously. "Are you sure you feel alright?"

She sighed and rubbed one of her eyes. "Yeah, I'm just really tired," she said. "I haven't slept that well since we started."

"I don't think anyone has…" TenTen said, sounding just as tired as Ryu did.

They heard the crunching of leaves and twigs and turned to see Nedgie coming back with wood in his arms. They made a fire in silence as the rest they needed eluded them for the moment. After they ate, Nedgie stood again.

"I think we should split up." he said. "We haven't been able to find anyone yet, and if we look in different areas we'll cover more ground."

He looked around at everyone to see if there were any objections. No one seemed to mind. Ryu actually thought it was a good idea. And even then, she could probably take a nap if she couldn't find anyone. So they marked the area where they were, decided to meet back in around two hours, and split up into different directions. Ryu headed north-east since heading east would basically have been retracing their steps.

No one had been following them since Nedgie hadn't seen anyone. _He may be a hard-ass, but he's useful, _she thought as she air slid through the tree branches. As she went through tree after tree, it felt like she wasn't getting anywhere. She was just so tired…. She stopped in a tree to survey her surroundings and make sure she wasn't going in circles.

No, it didn't look like it, everything was different then the area before. She sighed; she might as well keep going, even if she was sure she wasn't going to find anything. About an hour later, or what felt like one, Ryu stopped in a tree, panting. She was completely exhausted. Maybe if she took a moment, she'd feel better. She jumped down a few branches and took a sheet out of her bag.

She might as well take that nap she had thought of earlier. She sat down on the tree branch and leaned her head against the trunk while wrapping herself up in the sheet. She looked down as she made herself comfortable. But sleep was forgotten as she stared at what she saw on the ground. A full grown tiger was lying underneath the tree, cut to ribbons.

She threw the sheet off, stuffed in her bag, and climbed down the tree. She looked the kill over. Yup, this tiger had been killed by kunai knives, and lots of them. She then looked up above the tiger to see kunai knives sticking out of the trunk. She turned around and beheld a slaughter.

Tigers of all ages and sizes dead and cut along with three ninja bodies. Ryu shuddered. What had happened here? She looked around the area, looking for more clues. When tracking a spirit, you had to notice every detail, that's what Dr. Masuda had taught her.

There were claw marks on the trees, but they weren't fresh so that meant they were for marking territory. That explained the situation to her immediately. The ninja had wandered into tiger territory at the wrong time and then the other tigers had gathered from the noise. And if there were three ninjas that meant they were a team, and they had a scroll. She sighed; she didn't want to but she was going to have to go through their stuff.

She got to it, gong through their pockets methodically and quickly. Two of them turned up empty except for some food, and then she moved onto the last one. The last one had been killed by a very large tiger whose jaws were half-closed around his head while a large kunai knife had been stuck in its chest. As she started to go through his bag, she noticed the tiger was a mother, or used to be. She sighed sadly, but then stopped what she was doing as something wet closed around her ankle with small pricks of pain.

She turned and saw a small tiger cub determinedly gnawing on her leg. Except she wasn't doing much since she didn't have many teeth and her mouth was mostly gums. Her paws were huge, but the claws weren't really doing anything. She growled as she looked at Ryu. Ryu sighed and picked the cub up with one hand while the other grabbed hold of a scroll. She held the cub up to eye level.

"And what were you trying to do?" she asked the cub. "Gum me to death?"

The tiger cub gave the distinctive scratchy "Raowr!" while batting her nose. Ryu suddenly felt a presence behind her. She whipped around in time to see a ninja with a kunai knife aimed at her back. Her mind scrambled for a technique.

"Ryu! Look out!"

The ninja was suddenly swallowed by sand, and was dragged away from her. The sand then convulsed and dispersed, leaving no trace of the ninja. Ryu looked up to see Gaara in a tree with small whisps of sand churning around his feet. She let the held breath go she had sucked in and smiled at him.

"Hey, stranger!" she said good-naturedly as he jumped down.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he walked over to her.

"Yeah, thanks a lot," she said. He looked around.

"What happened here?" he asked as he did so.

"These poor smucks wandered into tiger territory," she said as she swiftly stowed the scroll in her bag behind her. She was hoping he hadn't seen what she had been doing.

"And you didn't notice that guy because…?"

"Well…" She held up her arm that was now being fanged by the cub who was growling as ferociously as she could.

"I was kinda preoccupied," She looked behind him.

"Where are you brother and sister?"

"Around. What about you? Is there a reason you're out here by yourself?" he asked.

She stood up and dusted herself off, the cub dropping off her arm.

"Nedgie thought we should split up," she said as she arranged her things in her bag to better hide the scroll. "You're the first person I've seen in three days."

She looked up at the sun. She should probably get back to the river. She looked back at Gaara as he started to walk away. She sighed; she hated this. This entire exam made everyone an enemy.

She was just glad he had saved her life instead of letting her deal with it. She was able to get the cub off of her foot and then started her return to the river. As she did, she couldn't help but feel like she was being followed. She zigged and zagged, and even air slid backwards a few times to make sure no one was behind her. What was this feeling…?

When she got to the river she saw that her team was there except for Nedgie. She noticed Lee had a few slashes in his shirt.

"What happened to you?" she asked. He sighed.

"I got picked up by a giant eagle," he said. He sniffed the air and wrinkled his nose. "Uh… Ryu-kun? No offense, but why do you smell like bad meat?"

"Corpses," she said simply. "I stumbled across a battle ground basically. It wasn't pretty."

TenTen seemed a little on edge. Instead of being her usual inner-confidence self, she was nervously pacing back and forth at the river's edge Ryu watched this behavior for a while then turned to Lee.

"What's up with TenTen?' she asked him. He shrugged.

"I'm not sure. She's been doing that for a while."  
Ryu sighed. _Lee, you have no common sense,_ she thought. _Or at least any that refer to girls. _She got up and walked over to TenTen.

"TenTen? Are you okay?" she asked, concerned. TenTen stopped pacing to look at her.

"Huh?" she said, looking as if she hadn't heard a word she had just said.

"I asked if you were alright. Are you?"

TenTen bit her lip before answering. "Kind of…" she said. She looked at Ryu, looking a bit guilty. "I'm worried about Nedgie."

Ryu gave her a puzzled look. "Nedgie? Why would you be worried about him?" she said. TenTen shrugged.

"It's just…" she said, fidgeting as she said it. "He's always the first one here whenever we split up. It's not like him to be late. What if something happened to him?"

Ryu shook her head. "TenTen, you said yourself. Nedgie's a genius. I'm pretty sure he can take care of himself." she said. TenTen nodded, still looking a bit unsure/

So they waited. Then they waited some more. And a little bit more. The more they waited, the more nervous TenTen seemed to get. After what seemed an hour, Ryu herself was starting to worry about the pale-eyed teen. Lee stood up.

"I think we should go look for Nedgie," he said. "Which direction did he go in?"

"Uh... Well…" TenTen said. "I went south."

Ryu nodded. "And I went north-east."

"I went north-west," said Lee. "So that means Nedgie went west, toward the tower."

"Okay, let's go look for our wayward ninja." Ryu said as she got up.

TenTen stood up and they began their search. The forest seemed to get thicker the closer they got to the tower. It seemed to Ryu that the possibility that Nedgie actually got lost in the foliage wasn't that farfetched of an idea. _Or if the foliage didn't eat him. _She thought. She immediately banished that thought.

She didn't really like Nedgie, but she couldn't imagine the team without him. He was one of the pillars that kept them all going. Both TenTen and Lee seemed to depend on him for some kind of encouragement that Ryu didn't require from him. She was able to get it that it might be that total surety of himself that he always had. That destiny mumbo-jumbo that she hated so much gave TenTen a confidence boot and Lee a reason to train as hard as he could to prove Nedgie wrong.

Plus there was the fact that the team needed to be intact in order to get to the third exam. They seemed to be going at a good pace when TenTen let out a small shriek.

"Look!" she said, stopping where she was. "There he is!"

They stopped and Ryu looked down. There he was, and what was he doing? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! He seemed to be just standing there and surveying the area like he owned the place.

This ticked her off immediately and she threw decorum and relief of finding him to the wind.

"Nedgie!" she nearly screamed. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

He looked up as they jumped down to him. He looked at her, a little surprised at seeing them.

"I was looking for other teams, what else?" he said. Ryu put her hands on her hips.

"We were supposed to meet up at the river bank two hours ago! What's the big idea just not showing up?" she said. TenTen tried to come up behind her and calm her down, but Ryu wouldn't have it. Nedgie sighed as the two lightly argued.

'Ryu," he said. "I didn't mean to upset you. I'm sorry."

This immediately shut her down. She blinked at him.

"E-excuse you?"

"I said I was sorry."

The entire world seemed to stand still. Even TenTen and Lee seemed to be in shock. She then smiled at him and walked toward him.

"Oh, in that case…"

Her eyes turned purple in a flash and she suddenly shoved him away with her wind. He landed a good seven feet away from them. Ryu glared at him.

"Ryu!" Lee exclaimed. "Why did you do that?! It's Nedge!!"

She looked back at him. "No, Lee," she said. "That's not Nedgie."

Nedgie sat up, furious. "I am too!" he insisted.

"Oh really? Use your Byakugan then.'

He paused as he looked at them. The team waited, on edge now as he hadn't immediately proved Ryu wrong. He got up and dusted himself off.

"Clever…" he said in a voice not quite his own. He looked at them with orange eyes.

"Clever girl…"

Dust started crumble off of the look-alike and as a heap of dirt came off of him, it revealed a man. He was stooped over and he straightened to his natural height. He was nearly seven feet tall, or he was in Ryu's eyes. He could almost be Veraj when he grew up. His hair was blonde and black, the colors in stripes off his head.

His skin reminded her of clay as lines were in some places in his face. A giant axe was strapped to his back, the blade gleaming in the faint light. A black choker was around his neck with the symbol of the Village Hidden Among The Stones, the craggy rock shining distinctively silver. The entire team was on guard now, ready to piunce on the stranger with their own techniques. TenTen was ready to start whipping out shuuriken and kunai knives in an instant.

"Where's Nedgie?!" she demanded. "What did you do with him?!"

"Heh," the stranger smiled. "He's just fine. I'll give him back if you're willing to trade."

"You mean a ransom!" Ryu nearly snarled. He shrugged.

"Call it what you like. Are you willing?"

"What is it that you want?" Lee cautiously asked.

"Your scrolls."

This caught them all off guard. Ryu looked the man up and down.

"But… You look like a jonin! What would you want scrolls for?"

The stranger sighed as he put his axe down.

"I'm a scroll collector known as Hiro," he said as he leaned on the handle. "You won't believe what other teams will do for an easy scroll. And considering how close we are to the end of the exam, teams will be getting desperate. So, what'll it be?"

Each member looked at each other. Lee looked determined to fight while TenTen seemed a bit uneasy. Lee nodded at Ryu with a light shake of his head. She was glad she could read body language so well. She sighed.

"No deal," she said. Hiro sighed as he picked up his axe.

"And here I was hoping you'd see reason," He easily hefted the axe into the air and charged at them.

They split up, Ryu in the air while Lee and TenTen to the sides. Hiro didn't even seem to notice Ryu and turned his attention only Lee and TenTen. _What's with this guy?_ she wondered as she readied to pounce on him with an air dive. He suddenly looked up at her, a wicked grin on his face. She felt a presence behind her and swiftly turned. With a screech, a giant eagle descended upon her, grabbing her arms with it's claws. She heard Hiro laughing as she struggled to get free. The eagle's claws dug into her skin, breaking it in some places. It took off with her higher into the sky. Lee heard her scream as the eagle flew with her.

"That's the same eagle that grabbed me!" he said to Hiro as he swung a few times at him. "You've been following us all along."

"Not always," he said as he easily dodged. "But long enough!"

He finally used his axe, swinging it at Lee's head. The boy ducked but then had to tumble away as the man had thrown shuriken at him with his other arm. He was weilding that giant axe with one arm! TenTen saw the opening of his back and threw six kunai knives at him, one for each space between her fingers. Hiro turned as he kicked the surprised Lee away. He lifted the axe and used it as a sheild, the blade covering him completely. The knives bounced off and TenTen reached for more shuriken. She shreiked in surprise as she suddenly found herself being held against her will. Hiro laughed softly in her ear.

"I always did like foreign girls," he said as he moved his hands around.

Lee immediately got up, as the kick had stunned him and ran to attack him. There was no way in the world he was going to let this scum disgrace his teammate. Above the ground battle, Ryu was fighting another in the air. The eagle snapped at her face as she struggled to be released by the claws. She was able to effectively dodge all of them, her own reflexes aided with her wind control.

The eagle suddenly dived, taking her stomach for a ride as her sense of balance was thrown off. The eagle then started to snap again, scratching her chin and cheek once. _Crap! It's smart!_ she moaned in her head more then thoat. She had to get it to let her go or it might take her head off next!

As they continued to hurtle toward the earth, she focused as much as she could on the air around the eagle's feet. The air started to twist and turn, sharpening to become air blades. She rotated them and the eagle screech in pain as it's feet were slashed. They suddenly broke through the tree tops and the eagle crashed to the earth, breaking up Hiro and TenTen as it did. Ryu tumbled head over heels and was only stopped by a tree trunk as she was slammed into it.

The eagle whimpered as it struggled to get back onto it's injured feet. Ryu was able to get back onto her feet and quickly air slid toward the eagle. It hissed and flew back into the air; the girl right behind it. The others got bavk onto their feet, the interruption giving TenTen enough time to get away from Hiro. She was angry.

She whipped out a scroll and bounced up a few tree branches. Lee immediately pounced on the man, who swung his axe with determination. _Feet don't fail me now!_ Lee anxiously thought as he jumped and leaped away from the sharp blade. TenTen ripped the scroll open and started to summon as many weapons as she could while Lee kept Hiro busy. She then threw everything all at once.

"Lee! Move!" she shouted. He ceratinly did as he jumped out of the way.

Hiro turned again and blocked as many as he could with the axe but a few got stuck in his feet.

"Agh!" He leapt away with the shuriken and kunai knives still in his feet.

"Gotchya!"

Lee was suddenly behind him. He gave him a few kicks to the head and then one to the chest. Hiro tumbled over the ground, stopping between TenTen and Lee's trees. He growled as he reached into his back pockets. He had scrolls, but not from the exam.

TenTen gasped as she saw they were for summoning, and she wasn't exactly in any hurry to find out what was in them. She was about to yell at Lee to run when a crash was heard and the giant eagle from before landed hard right on top of the infuriated Hiro with Ryu on top of it. She had air dived and drove it into the ground along with it's master. She climbed out of the crater, spitting dust and rocks.

"Okay, where's the other one?' she asked as she looked around.

Her teammates leapt to the ground.

"Well, you kind of got him along with the bird," TenTen said while gesturing to the crater.

Nothing seemed to be moving in it. They each looked at one another, a little beat up but still not too bad.

"We should start looking for Nedgie," Ryu said. "He can't be too far."

So they split up once more, all having the same lingering thought. What if Hiro had killed Nedgie? Ryu wasn't too sure whether he could of done it or not. From what she had seen, that scroll collector hadn't been that much of a threat. Then again, she had been dealing with his monster parakeet at the time. She would have to ask Lee and TenTen what had happened. Sh climbed into a tree, and was surprised to see how close the tower was. When they found Nedgie, it would be easy to get to the tower from where they were. Now, if only they could find him…

She looked up as she heard some tree leaves rustle. Nedgie was right above her, tied up what seemed mummy-style and looking like he was going to kill something if she didn't get him out.

"Nedgie!" she said, happy that she had found him. She climbed up and loosened the bandages around his mouth. "Are you alright."

'I'm just fine, now get me down!!"

The boy seemed to be seething with rage, almost scaring her. She'd never seen Nedgie lose his temper. So, she cut him down, resisting the urge to tease him and they walked back. Lee and TenTen had returned by then and were glad to see im. Lee was his usual hyper self when it came to a success, and nearly danced when he saw him. Ryu thought TenTen just might hug him, but she restrained herself. Nedgie didn't seem to have changed at all in the least, dispelling any suspicion of another imposter.

He sighed his usual sigh. "Alright, did any of you find a scroll?" he asked, sounding impatient.

Ryu smiled and dug into her bag. "I did!" she said triuphantly.

She pulled the earth scroll out of her bag and held it out proudly.

"Woo-hoo!" Lee cheered. "Let's get to the tower!"

"Don't celebrate yet," Nedgie nearly growled. "We have to be on our guard."

_Well, it was fun while it lasted._ Ryu thought as they started to walk again. They were back under the pale-eyed boy's dark cloud. Not that she didn't mind much. She had gotten used to Nedgie, he just got on her nerves once in a while. But just because she had gotten used to him didn't mean she necessarly liked him.

Tolerated was more like it. The battle bewteen Hiro and them had erased time, and it was suddenly dark to them. It looked like the sun had set nearly four hours ago. They trudged through the last of the forest, encountering nothing but leaves and a few mosquitos. Ryu almost walked into a wall, she was so tired. She looked up and found hrself facing one of the walls to the tower. Nedgie was looking up at, determined.

"We made it," he said. The team seemed to relax as he readied to open the doors in front of them.

He opened them and the team started to walk in. Ryu paused before she went in. Lee noticed this and turned around.

"Ryu?" he asked. "What is it?'

"It's just…" she said letting the sentence trail off. She took a few steps out into the forest.

She stood there for a moment, looking out into it. Her team waited for her, a bit puzzled. She suddenly reached into a bush and pulled somethng out of it. It growled and batted her arms as she pulled it out.

"You!" she exclaimed as she recognized the tiger cub from earlier in the day.

She turned around to show her team.

"This little thing has been following me ever since I met her!" she said. TenTen sighed.

"Well, put her back then. We've got to go," she said.

Ryu paused as she looked at the cub. She remembered the battle ground. This cub had nothing to go back to. She stopped holding her by the scruff of the neck and held her n her arms like she would with Al. TenTen looked surprised.

"What are you doing?" Nedgie sharply asked.

"She's staying with me," Ryu said as she walked in. She looked at Nedgie, her eyes daring him to challenge her. "And nothing you guys aregoing to say will change my mind."

She thought she saw Nedgie grinding his teeth. The tiger cub growled in his direction. TenTen walked over to the cub and looked at her. She rubbed it's head, and then looked back at Nedgie.

"I think it's okay," she said. She opened the cub's mouth. "See? No teeth."

"Yet," he mumbled.

Lee shook his head. "Forget the tiger! Open the scrolls so we can see who we get this time!"

Nedgie sighed and held the earth scroll out. He looked at Ryu for the heaven scroll.

'Well? Don't tell me you lost it?"

Ryu rolled her eyes as she put the tiger cub down and dug the heaven scroll out of her bag. She had had both scrolls then entire time. They had decided it would be best since she had a bag with her all the time. She held it out and they both opened the scrolls.


	9. Trial By Fire: Part One

Author's note: Hey, everyone! While I was writing this chapter, I realized it was turning out to be _super_ long, so I decided to cut it in half. Don't worry; I'm almost finished with the next part already. So, happy reading! 

-Ryu

Trial by Fire: Part One 

**R**_yu was walking through a house she recognized. __**I'm dreaming…**__ she thought. __**I have to be. **__She shook her head, trying to wake up. She stopped as soon as she heard a familiar tune being sung somewhere in the house. She let the dream take her as she walked through the house, following the singing. _

_She followed it to the kitchen. As she walked in, she had to shield her eyes from the light streaming in through one of the windows. She squinted and saw that there was someone at the sink, washing dishes. She went closer, wanting to touch the silky black hair that fell past the woman's waist. She touched the woman's shoulder._

_"Mom?"_

_The singing stopped and the woman turned. She looked surprised to see her._

_"Ryu?" she said. She smiled. "Where were you? I was looking for you to help dry the dishes."_

_"Oh, I-"_

_**"Ryu!"**_



**S**he opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was black and red.

"AAAH!"

She immediately freaked out and shot herself up into the air. Her hair was completely on end as she clung to the ceiling. _Well, that's not the first time I've gotten that reaction,_ thought Gaara as he looked up at her from the tower floor. He sighed.

"You sure can go high when you do that," he said to her.

"Huh?"

The girl looked around herself, as she had no idea she was holding onto the ceiling. She then let go and floated down to the ground. She smiled sheepishly at him in apology.

"Sorry," she said as she picked up the sheet and pillow.

"Must have been some dream," he said. "What was it about?"

Ryu looked at him, puzzled. "What? Oh, nothing…"

The tiger cub she had yet to give a name plopped down next to Gaara and started to attack his left sandal. He looked down at her and picked her up. Ryu was glad that the cub had taken to attacking her friends and teammates instead of her in the last two days. Her team's arrival had been no surprise, at least to the Sand team who had already arrived. They had all come two days early, and had watched the other teams filter in.

Ryu stretched and yawned as she looked around. Today was the last day to show up. She had been asleep for most of the day and was surprised to see so many people had shown up.

"Is this why you woke me up?" she said as she rubbed an eye. Gaara nodded.

She looked around again and saw that all the Konoha teams in her age group had made it. They were gathered in a group. She had to keep herself from gasping when she saw that the one Sound girl had made it. _She made it through that forest all by herself?_ she thought. The girl seemed okay except for a few scratches and bruises. She was calmly playing cat's cradle against the wall. Ryu then audibly groaned when her eyes landed on the Grass team. Gaara looked at her.

"What's wrong?" he asked. She pointed.

"Them. I was hoping they wouldn't male it," she said as she quickly stopped pointing.

If either Veraj or Reks saw her pointing they might come over and start bugging her again.

"Why?" he asked. She sighed.

"The big guy has it out for me, and the one with the white hair thinks I'm cute," she said drudgingly. The redhead looked at the Grass team.

"Really?" he said.

Their attention was drawn elsewhere as the door opened for another team. Ryu jumped as she saw it was Sara's team, both girls holding Gegai up as if his legs were broken. She ran over to help.

"Sara!" she said as she took an arm. "What happened?"

"We were attacked just before we got in," she said. "Gegai got the most of it."

They laid him down on the ground as a few other genin ran over to both gawk and help. Sara quickly poured water over him and made a few hand signs. She began to glow a light blue and then the blue was focused into her hands. She laid one hand on his forehead and another over his heart. The blue glow passed from her to him, and, after a few minute, faded.

Gegai's eyelids twitched and then he opened his eyes. He then quickly sat up, but then looked like he regretted it as he doubled over in pain. His teammates leaned in, but he waved them away.

"I-I'm okay now…" he said as he shakily got up. He almost fell over and both girls caught him.

"No, you're not," said Sara as she held him up. "The Turtle can only do so much."

Anko watched this from the back and clapped her hands, the sound echoing through the hall. Everyone looked back at her.

"The second part of the exam has just finished," she said, her voice echoing through the use of the ear mike she had on. "All of you need to get in line by team, side by side."

They all quickly followed her directions as they saw Musashi, the proctor from the first part of the exam, come in followed by the chunin that had greeted them. Ryu quickly got in line behind Lee and Nedgie. She looked around at the teams. _Wow, everyone looks a wreck,_ she thought. That's when she noticed Gaara didn't have a mark on him.

She turned attention back up as she saw Kakashi, Guy, Kurenai, and Asuma walk in along with four other teachers. The hokage and her assistant then came in. Tsunade took a breath; she hated these speeches. And was she really going to have to watch all these kids beat each other up? She looked around.

There was Naruto and Sakura… Lee's team had made it along with the Akihara girl. She took another breath and decided, last minute, to ditch her notes. She smiled at the genin.

"Hey all," she said. She heard Shizunae almost faint behind her. "How do you feel?"

The genin fidgeted and she smiled. "Well, that's okay, because it's going to get worse!"

She heard a few groans and a few startled "What?!" s come from the lines. She had to stop herself from laughing and looked at Sirym. The young jonin looked expectantly at her and Tsunade nodded. She stepped forward and put her hands up.

"Congratulations, all of you," she said. "My name's Sirym Gotsubo and I'm the proctor for the third part of the exam. I'm going to explain some things before we get started."

She stopped midway and looked herself over. She seemed to be searching her pockets for something. She took out a piece of paper and looked at it.

"Well…" she said as she did. "It seems 22 of you passed and half of you are taking the exam for the second time."

She looked up. 'So, it should come as no surprise that we have to go through preliminaries again because there are so many of you."

More moans and groans came from the lines and the seemingly calm and collected Sirym's eyes narrowed. She stamped her foot.

"HEY!" she shouted, her voice easily magnified even without the space doing so. "NEW RULE! NO WHINING!! GOT THAT?!"

The hall was silent as Ryu came down from the few inches she had jumped. TenTen had grabbed hold of her and held her down. She smoothed her hair down and prepared to listen to Sirym.

"Okay," she said, looking like she had calmed down. "First thing's first. The preliminaries are one on one matches, pitting one ninja against another. You win the match when I say it's over, or your opponent is no longer able to battle. No longer able to battle being either you're knocked unconscious or you die."

Ryu's eyes widened. _Die…?_ Okay, now she knew why TenTen hadn't wanted to tell her how the third exam went. She didn't want to die. Sirym looked around.

"Does anyone want to duck out now, so I want have to pick you up later?"

Ryu looked over at the barely standing Gegai. He was determinedly staring ahead as he lightly swayed. Why wasn't he raising his hand or anything? She was about to raise her hand to say something when Sirym talked for her.

"No one will hold it against you if you leave," she said. "We're doing to this to prevent as many deaths as we can."

She waited another beat and took a breath. Ryu was about to shoot her hand up when Nedgie grabbed it. He looked at her piercingly.

"Don't," he said. She bit her lip.

"But if we don't-"

"If he wants to stay in, it's his choice," he said sternly. "Don't meddle."

She sighed and then looked up as part of the wall was lifted away to reveal a screen. Sirym smiled at all of them.

"So, let's begin,"

The screen turned on and names started to circulate through. The air seemed to stand still as they all waited to see who would be facing off first. Ryu was hoping to anyone at all that it wouldn't be her. The names suddenly stopped.

**Sakura Haruno vs. Gegai Surron**

Ryu had to stop herself from gasping. _Just like that?!_ she thought. She looked over at Gegai. _Oh, please forfeit…_ Sirym clapped her hands.

"Alright, everyone but the two people picked clear the arena," she said.

Ryu ran over to her bag and picked it up along with the tiger cub. She had watched the entire thing with wide eyes and didn't fight her as she picked her up. She walked up the stairs and joined Guy and her team. He smiled at them.

"Great job, all of you," he said with his usual gusto. "I'm proud of you all for getting through this a second time."

He looked at Ryu. "And I have someone who will be very happy to see you."

Ryu grinned, her happiness spilling out of her face. "Al!"

The orange tabby cat sprang out of the bag that Guy had with him and leaped onto her shoulders. His purring was so loud she couldn't hear a thing. He was rubbing her jaw and neck as much as he could. She giggled as he did, scratching his back, head and ears as he danced on her shoulders.

"Okay, Al," she said as she put him down. "I want you to meet someone."

She put him down in front of the tiger cub. The cat shook his head as soon as he looked at her. The cub cocked her head at him. Al looked up at Ryu.

"Raow?"

She bent down and petted him. "I haven't thought of a name for her yet," she said. She looked at him. "But she's all alone and needs someone to look after her. Is that okay?"

Al looked back at the tiger cub and took a step toward her. He sniffed her nose, and the cub put a paw on top of his head. He wriggled out from under her paw. He looked up at Ryu with a look that seemed to say," Oh, alright, but I hope you know what you're doing…"

She giggled, but her attention was caught by the two people below. The pink haired girl she had met at the beginning of the exam was standing across from Gegai. Sirym was standing between them, her hand between them as well.

"Let the first match… Begin!"

She jumped away to stand on the side. Both Gegai and Sakura jumped away from each other. Sakura then came back, making a few clones as she did. She was nearly on top of him when he cartwheeled away, spilling water as he did so. He came to a halt, making hand signs.

Water clones then surrounded Sakura and her clones. A brawl then seemed to break out in the arena as clone went after clone, the real fighters among them somewhere. All the clones burst into non-existence as Sakura and Gegai came out, deadlocked with kunai knives. They strained against one another. Sakura then suddenly let go and quickly punched him.

Gegai was sent tumbling and then lay there. Sirym jumped in and checked his pulse. _Knocked out cold,_ she thought. She pointed at Sakura.

"The winner of the first match is Sakura Haruno!"

Sara's teacher jumped down and picked Gegai up. From what Ryu could tell, he had been knocked unconscious by Sakura's punch. _Well, maybe that's what he needed to stop,_ she thought. Sakura walked past them and Lee smiled at her.

"Nice job, Sakura!" he said. "You really are worthy of chunin level."

She lightly blushed. "Thanks Lee," she said. "But I didn't hit him that hard. I don't know what happened."

She stopped talking as he eyes went to the screen. TenTen looked and whistled.

"Wow," she said. "De ja vu."

**Naruto Uzumaki vs. Nedgie Hyuga**

Ryu heard Nedgie give one of hi unique "Hmph"'s. She looked over at him, and saw that he was smiling. Naruto broke the silence wit his own cheering. He jumped down to the arena while her teammate calmly walked down the stairs.

"Well, this is going to be something," said TenTen. Ryu looked at her, almost pouting.

"How?" she said, not sounding exactly excited. She rest her arms and chin on the railing, turning her body into an 'L' shape.

"It's just Nedgie against some poor blonde that's gonna get used as a mop."

TenTen laughed. "Maybe. But the last time these two fought, Naruto won."

Ryu yawned; she didn't really care. Actually, she was too tired to care. She was still catching up on what she had lost while she had been in the Forest of Death. She let her head rest sideways on her forearms. Sirym was about to begin the match when she closed her eyes.



**B**OOM!

Ryu was jolted awake as she grabbed onto the railing to stop herself from, one, falling over from the concentrated earthquake, and, two, stop herself from going up again. _This exam isn't good for my heart! _she thought as she gathered her senses. She looked down at the arena and saw, not Nedgie and Naruto, but the red haired ninja who seemed to have turned himself into a giant bowling ball. He seemed to be stuck in the floor, in a crater he had created himself. Sirym waited a moment before going over to check on Choji.

He was knocked out, seemingly by his own weight. She grabbed hold of him, and rolled him out of the crater. Shino had been underneath him, and she jumped into the crater to check on him as well. She sighed as she realized he was out cold from Choji's weight. She jumped out.

"Neither opponent can fight. No one wins the fourth match."

A weary silence seemed to take hold of the arena as both Choji and Shino were taken away by the medical corps. That's when Ryu realized that neither Nedgie nor Naruto were around.

"Hey, TenTen," she said. "Where're Nedgie and Naruto? Who won?"

TenTen looked at her, surprised. "You slept through three matches?!" she exclaimed.

Ryu shrugged. "I was tired. Tell me what happened."

She sighed. "Well, to put it simply, they beat each other senseless," she said, sounding tired herself.

"But it was a great battle," Lee cut in. "I'm sorry that you had to miss it."

The dark blonde richly yawned. "I'm not. Who won the third?"

"Hinata. You know her, right? Through Kiba?"

Ryu blinked. "You mean Nedgie's cousin? She won?"

"Uh-huh. It was cool."

"Shh!" said Lee. "They're picking the names for the next match!"

Everyone watched silently as the remaining names started to cycle through. Ryu bit her lip and silently prayed; she wasn't rested enough yet. The names stopped.

**Temari vs. Aki Yotsuba**

Both ninja walked down the stairs and faced each other in the arena. Temari had to stop herself from shivering when she first looked at Aki. He was creepy. She got her fan ready while Aki stood stalk still, arms at his side.

"And… begin!"

Temari ripped her fan open and quickly created a wind. She made it slice the air. Aki flipped away. He seemed quite the gymnast as he was able to dodge Temari's wind attacks. Temari then jumped, and changed positions; she was not going to lose.

She couldn't stay a freaking genin forever! Not when she was fifteen and a half! She prepared to send a whirlwind at him when the boy suddenly stopped. He threw a few smoke bombs, one where he was and a few in different areas. Temari quickly hid in her fan. It was going to take more then smoke to stop her.

She reappeared and threw two whirlwinds at him. Aki started to retreat again, running into the smoke that was still hanging in the air. She determinedly chased him, following him into the smoke. She suddenly came out, finding him gone. She looked around and then looked up.

Aki was coming down at her like a rocket. He landed behind her, swinging knives. Temari quickly jumped and then swung her fan like a club. After all, it was made out of steel. He was able to avoid her again, cartwheeling and rolling away from her. Temari growled.

This whole gymnastics show was getting on her nerves. She opened her fan all the way, ready to send a Wind Scythe his way.

Then she suddenly stopped. Her eyes widened. She then fell onto her knees and fell all the way. From the railing, it had looked like she had literally dropped dead.

Gaara blinked, alarm slowly rising in him. "Temari?"

"Temari!" Konkuro shouted to his sister. She didn't move.

He was about to jump down when Baki stopped him.

"Wait!" he said. "Let the proctor do her job."

Konkuro was about to protest when Baki basically told him through body language to shut up. He was worried too. Sirym quickly ran over to the fallen Temari and rolled her over. Her eyes were glazed and she seemed unnaturally pale. She put a hand to her neck to check on her pulse. It was slow, but steady. She looked up as she felt grains of sand on her neck. Gaara had suddenly appeared in a whirl of sand, arms folded and eyes glaring daggers. If looks could kill, Aki would have died right there as he looked at him.

"What did you do to her?" he quietly demanded.

The entire room became tense as it seemed everyone was prepared to jump on Gaara to try and stop him if he lost his temper. Aki sighed.

"I used poison," he said coolly, completely calm underneath Gaara's basilisk glare.

"You better have an antidote," he said, trying not to growl. He agreed with Ryu now; he did not like the Grass team.

Aki reached into his pockets and took out a vial.

"Of course I have an antidote," he said with an almost arrogant air. "But I can't give it to until the proctor declares a winner."

Gaara's eyes widened, not in surprise, but in anger. His murderous temper was stirring Shukaku up. Sirym stood up.

"The winner of the fifth match is Aki Yotsuba," she said quickly.

The medical corps came out to take Temari away. Aki walked over and gave the antidote to one of the medic nin. Gaara watched him the entire time. Aki looked back at him for a few seconds, and then turned to walk up the stairs. The red-head gave a look of death to the Grass nin's back and then went back up to the railing using his sand. Both brothers watched their older sister be taken away on a stretcher. Konkuro fidgeted.

"I hope she'll be alright…" he said. Baki folded his arms.

"She will. The medic nins know what they're doing," he said. He looked over at the brooding Gaara.

_But give Gaara an excuse and he'll murder that Aki kid in a heartbeat. _he thought. Over with Guy's team, Ryu was as equally worried about Temari as Konkuro. She liked Temari. She didn't think she was nuts for being friends with Gaara like some of her other friends. She seemed almost grateful to her for reaching out to him.

"But how did he poison her?' she wondered out loud. Sakura and Kakashi had wandered over, and Sakura had been wondering the same thing.

"I think…" she said. Ryu looked at her. "I think it was the smoke bombs."

Ryu blinked. "How do you figure?"

"Well, we didn't see him use any needles,' she said. "And Temari seemed okay until she went through the smoke, right?"

Ryu thought a moment. "But then how come it didn't hurt Aki?" she said.

"Those who use poison," Lee said, as he was listening too. "Know they are using something that could be hurt them as well. But for him to use it in that form, he must be immune to it somehow."

"How's that possible?" Ryu asked. "What's the point of poison if some people are immune to it?"

Sakura thought a moment, unraveling the conundrum as quickly as she could.

"I guess you could say, it's like medicine." She said. "After a while, the effects of a certain medication lose their potency, as your body gets used to it. If a certain poison could work the same way, you could gradually become immune to it after taking it so many times.

Ryu thought on this answer. It seemed to make sense, or at least it did in theory. It reminded of what one of her health professors had told them about drugs. After so many hits, the user became tolerant of a certain dose, thus demanding a bigger dose of whatever drug he or she was using. If poison was the same, it was possible.

She watched the emotionless Aki for a while, his teammates tentively congratulating him on his win. That would explain their respect for him. He still made her shiver for some reason. But her attention was diverted once again by the screen as the names started to go through it. She could hear Lee talking under his breath, "Please let it be me! Please! Please!"

She lightly thought him crazy; Ryu was in no hurry to jump into battle. But then again, she had gotten all the rest she had needed. Her body was ready to her, but her mind was still shaky. She was nervous. The people who were left were people she didn't want to face.

Reks and Veraj were at the top of her list along with her fellow teammates, Gaara, Konkuro, Kiba, Saphira, and especially Sara. The only people left to fight were either her friends or people she wished would leave her alone. She ground her teeth as she watched. They finally stopped.

**Kiba Inuzuka vs. Reks Tachiki**

She thought she heard Reks laugh out loud along with Kiba's cheer. Kiba grinned wildly and went down the stairs to face him. Akumaru trotted ahead of him, eager to face this opponent. So, he got an excuse to beat the crap out of Ryu's molester. He couldn't of asked for anything better. Reks seemed just as eager as they did to face him so soon. He put a hand on a hip.

"So, dog boy, we actually get to fight," he said, smirking.

Kiba cracked his knuckles. "You ready to feel the pain?" he asked, his voice dripping with violence. Akumaru growled deeply at the boy.

He laid a hand on the puppy. _**You ready Akumaru? **__You bet! Let's get this guy!! _Reks looked up at Ryu and sent a kiss her way. Ryu quickly ducked behind Lee. Kiba bristled at him.

"Hey! Leave her alone!!" he snapped at him. Reks grinned nastily at him.

"Ooh, touchy!" He thought a moment. "I've got an idea. Want to make a bet?"

"What do you have in mind?" he nearly growled. Why couldn't he just beat him up already? Reks looked at him.

"If you win the match, I promise I'll leave the blonde alone," he said, his hand up in oath. "But if I win, I get to take her out to dinner."

Kiba bared his canines at him. "Done!"

"If you're ready…" Sirym said, their conversation over. "You may begin… Now!"

She jumped out of the way. Reks quickly took out a couple of kunai knives and ran toward Kiba. Kiba deftly dodged and Akumaru bit Reks' calf. The boy restrained his pain and channeled it into anger. His eyes blazed and he lifted his leg up in preparation to smash it on top of the dog, creating a sandwich between his leg and the concrete beneath. Kiba saw this.

"Akumaru! Let go!"

The puppy quickly did, letting go seconds before he would of made contact. Reks ended up slamming his ankle into the floor for nothing. He gritted his teeth and held his leg for a moment. Kiba smiled. _This is going to be easier then I thought!_ he thought.

He stood off to the side for a while, gathering his chakra. His skin suddenly goose-bumped as he used his beast mimicry technique. Down On All Fours usually worked like a charm against taijutsu weak ninjas, which Kiba could see Reks' was from his skinny form. Reks was recovered enough to dodge Kiba's four-legged charge. He flipped backwards, vaulting over the crater from Shino and Choji's battle.

It seemed gymnastics had been a team effort as he was as good as his fellow teammate. He quickly made some hand signs once he was on his feet again, and vines suddenly erupted from the ground around him just as Kiba had come in for another hit. The vines quickly wrapped around the charging Kiba, who had been going so fast he couldn't stop himself. The vines wrapped around him like thick, green snakes and then threw him across the arena. The boy gathered his chakra just in time to stop himself from getting seriously hurt as he was thrown into the wall.

Akumaru ran over to the stunned Kiba. He growled at his side. Kiba pulled himself onto his knees, hearing his back and joints snap and pop in the process. Well, at least he was loosened up now.

"I'm okay," he said to the concerned dog. He looked to Reks as the vines were sucked back into the ground.

Reks smiled at him. "What's the matter? I thought you were going to keep charging at me like an animal?" he taunted.

Kiba tried not to growl. "C'mon, Akumaru!"

He got back into his All Fours position and Akumaru jumped on top of him.

"Beast Mimicry!"

_Human Mimicry!_

Two snarling Kibas were then there and both leaped to the side, going in wide arcs to take Reks by both sides. Reks got down on the ground and quickly rolled away just as the two of them jumped to attack. But Kiba anticipated this, and both of them veered to follow the white-haired boy. He jumped into the crater and shoved his hands into the exposed dirt. Once again, vines sprang out like living octopus limbs.

Akumaru and Kiba barely got out of the way as the vines slammed into the ground, looking for something to grab onto and crush. The both of them watched as the vines went down. Reks was already making more hand signs as they did so. Akumaru was ready to go again, but Kiba held him off. It would be better to see what he was going to do.

"Vines of Demeter!" Reks nearly shouted as he drove his arms into the ground along with his legs.

A rumbling started and Kiba looked around, trying to determine where it was coming from. Vines suddenly burst out from underneath Kiba and he jumped away. The same thing happened where he landed, and he found himself surrounded by giant, wriggling vines. They were bursting from walls too, finding places everywhere to take root. He couldn't see Reks anymore from the wall of vegetation that had grown up around him.

Akumaru let out a yip as his left leg was grabbed onto by one of the vines.

"Aroo!" he howled as the vine quickly wrapped around him, squeezing him in Kiba's form.

"Akumaru!"

The vine convulsed, squeezing harder, and Akumaru howled even more. Kiba got out a few kunai knives and jumped at the vine but was then grabbed by another. It wrapped around him with crushing pressure. He saw Akumaru change back to his puppy form through squished vision. He was able to jump out in his new, small form. Kiba gathered his chakra, transformed into Akumaru, and escaped before the vine could come down on him again.

He jumped to the floor, and returned to his human form, but then had to grab Akumaru and dodge more vines. They chased him, bursting out of the ground at the last second, giving him little time to get out of the way. _I can't believe this!_ He thought, frustrated. _I'm running around like a rat in a maze!! How the hek can I win when these crazy vines keep coming after me?!_

He saw his chance to escape from the mass of vines that were determinedly chasing him in a small window towards the giant tiger hand sign statue. He narrowly ran through before the vines came in. They chased up the fingers, but suddenly stopped when he reached the topmost finger. The vines struggled to reach him, but seemed at their limit. One even grew a Venus fly trap mouth and stubbornly snapped at its escaped prey.

Kiba panted as he watched the vines retreat back into the ground where they had come from, but the wall of vines around Reks hadn't. He bit his knuckles, a bad habit, as he tried to think of a strategy. Akumaru whined at him. _I don't wanna be plant food! What are we gonna do?__** I'll think of something, just give me a sec…**_

He chewed a broken nail as he studied the changed arena. The plants went after anything that moved it seemed. Maybe if he made a bunch of clones, they could split up while he and Akumaru went for Reks' vine barrier. But how could they get in?

Akumaru barked at him. _What Fang over Fang? Do you think that could work? _Kiba thought a moment. _**If we used knives at the same time, it would be like a weed whacker. What do you think? **__Sounds good to me! Let's go!_

Kiba stood up, and searched his pockets. A couple of food pills wouldn't hurt; the more chakra he had to burn, the more clones he could make. He nodded to Akumaru, who quickly turned into his form. He popped a food pill in his mouth and gave one to Akumaru. A couple dozen clones burst into existence and they went off. The vines returned, going after everything.

The real Kiba got out some smoke bombs and set them off, turning the arena into a stew of smoke and vines. As he and Akumaru jumped and dodged the lashing vines, Kiba thought he heard Ryu cheering fir them. He couldn't help it; he smiled. It was nice to have someone rooting for you. _Then again, she'll probably do it for her other friends too. _he thought.

But he still felt special, if only for a little while. Akumaru barked when he reached Reks' barrier and he joined him. They got their knives out and started the concentrated Fang Over fang. The spectators heard a sort of mowing sound and pieces of vegetation were seen flying up through the smoke. A few more core snaps were heard and both Akumaru and Kiba jumped in before the vines grew back. He had to stop himself from gasping when he saw Reks. He himself had seemed to have turned into a vine, his skin and hair turning into leaves and bark. Akumaru punched Reks without hesitation, his eyes snapping open.

"You?! How'd you-?!" he rasped as he stared at the puppy in Kiba's form.

"Open wide!!" Kiba snarled as he shoved a smoke bomb in the boy's mouth.

"Augh!!!"

The vines suddenly burst into non-existence as the smoke cleared. The only thing seen then was Kiba punching Reks for all he was worth. He sent him flying with a combination of a punch and a kick. Akumaru changed back into his original dog form, and caught up to the stunned Reks as he landed. The puppy jumped onto him and head butted him in the forehead as hard as he could. The crack was heard through the arena and Reks fell over, looking pretty lifeless. Sirym jogged over to check him. He was out. She pointed to Kiba.

"The winner of the sixth match is Kiba Inuzuka!"

"Yes!!" Kiba shouted, punching the air. He grabbed Akumaru and nearly hugged him.

"Nice work there with the head butt!" he said as he scrubbed the puppy's head. The puppy panted happily.

He heard Ryu shouting again, and he looked over at her. She was jumping up and down.

"Woo-hoo!" she shouted. "Way to go, Kiba! You showed that creep!"

He grinned at her, the fierce Inuzuka smile spreading across his features easily. She smiled back, Tetsu's smile echoing across her own face. Kiba turned back to climb up the steps when he saw both Naruto and Nedgie coming back from the medical corps room. They had woken up, and Naruto looked at him.

"Did you win?" he asked. Kiba smiled.

"You bet!"

"Aw! That's not fair!!"

Kiba grinned at him. "Ha ha! Now you get to sit in the stands while I kick ass this time!!" he joked.

Nedgie ignored this conversation as he walked up the stairs, looking worse then he seemed to feel. He had a few scrapes from the earlier match. He looked his teammates over. TenTen smiled at him.

"Hey, how do you feel?" she asked. Nedgie rubbed the side of his head.

"There's a slight ringing in my ear from that fool shouting into it, but I'm alright," he said. He looked over them again.

"I take it no one has battled yet."

Lee nodded. "Kiba just finished. They should be picking someone else."

"Which would be right now!" Ryu said, pointing to the screen.

They watched anxiously. A small panic started to work itself in Ryu's chest. Oh God, she hoped she wouldn't freak out in the middle of her match. Considering her luck, she probably would, if she fought someone she knew. She _really_ didn't want to fight a friend. If she fought the Sound girl, that would be alright. She knew how to handle that. The names suddenly stopped.

**Ryu Akihara vs. Veraj Bunto**


	10. Trial By Fire: Part Two

**Author's note: **Hey, everyone! Here's what you've been waiting for, the end of the preliminaries! Whoo! On another note, school starts for me in about one week (when I'm writing) so that cuts my time to write only one day, and even then, to only two hours in which I can write. So, it looks like I'll be updating monthly, if I don't get writer's block or if I don't get bogged down with school work. It's my senior year, so I'm gonna hafta work my ass off. Oh yeah, I finally found a Sand headband! Squee! I've been looking for one everywhere!! Anyway, happy reading!

-Ryu

**Trial By Fire: Part Two**

**R**yu thought she might scream. _Oh no!! _she thought, panicking. _Not him! ANYONE but him!!!!_ TenTen looked at Ryu, smiling.

"You ready?" she asked good naturedly.

She blinked as it seemed Ryu had turned white as a sheet. She was actually shaking. She lifted a hand to tap her.

"Ryu? Are you okay?"

"Huh?!" She looked at TenTen, a look of complete terror on her face.

She was about to try and comfort her when a small earthquake shook the arena as Veraj jumped down into it. He looked up at Ryu, smiling maliciously.

"Well?!" he called to her. "Hurry up and get down here!!"

Ryu took a few steps back, spooked. Nedgie looked at her; he'd never seen her this way. All the inner confidence and optimism she had seemed to have disappeared. Guy was suddenly behind her, smiling.

"Come on, Ryu!" he said encouragingly. "Let's see you win!!"

He said this with his usual eagerness and gave her a hard slap on the back. The force he used was so great, Ryu suddenly found herself going over the railing.

"AHHH!" She landed on her back, unable to stop herself in the short fall. TenTen glared at her teacher.

"Guy-sensei! That was too much!! What, do you want to kill her?!" she chastised.

Ryu picked herself up, her body protesting completely at being moved so soon. Anger flared in, and she jumped onto her feet.

"GUY!!!!" she shouted at him. "YOU IDIOT!! HOW MANY TIMES ARE YOU GOING TO DO THAT TO ME?!?!"

"Stop yelling at me and focus on your match!!" he commanded his furious charge. This only seemed to infuriate her even more, her eyes turning purple.

"Why you-!!"

Sirym cleared her throat. "If you're ready, we can start."

Ryu turned. "What? Oh…"

She walked over to the waiting Veraj, who got bigger with every step she took. He loomed menacingly over her. Was it just her, or had he grown another foot since she last saw him? She gulped, the fear coming back into her. She heard Guy give another cheer, her temper flaring in reaction.

Now she was too angry to be scared; she'd finish this quick so she could yell at Guy some more. Her eyes stayed purple. Up on the platform, Kiba bit his lower lip. This wasn't a good match up, that Veraj guy could easily break one of Ryu's arms or some other bone if he wanted too. He hoped she'd be alright.

Or would they being seeing a repeat of Lee and Gaara's battle from last time? He looked over at the red-head. He was standing there with arms folded, watching calmly. But he was tapping his foot, something Kiba knew he didn't do. Was he worried? He turned his attention back to the match that had yet to start.

Veraj smiled a toothy smile at the short Ryu. He had a good two feet on her as they stood across from one another. Sirym looked from one to the other and lifted her hand.

"Begin!"

She jumped away just in time before Veraj lunged. Ryu quickly jumped backwards and then air slid behind him before he even knew where she was. She used her signature chop to his back and, just as he was turning, was in front of him for the kick. _Excellent!_ Lee thought. _He's falling right into it! _Ryu did a quick hand stand and then swung her leg.

Except the foot never connected. Veraj looked down at her sandaled foot, which was four inches away from his jaw. Ryu was too short to hit him. _Uh-oh!_ She thought for one second before Veraj grabbed her leg. He suddenly twisted, looking like he was wringing out a cloth.

Ryu howled, her bones crunching under his tight grip. He then lifted her using her leg, and swung her over his head. He slammed her into the ground like a rag doll, making a dent in the concrete. The only sound Ryu seemed to make was a quick _Snap!_ As she came down a third time.

He then threw her so hard, she went into the wall across from him. TenTen covered her mouth with her hands while Lee nearly fell over the railing trying to see if she was okay. Konkuro looked to Gaara, who was shaking with suppressed rage. He had no idea how much he wanted to kill that boy down there. Ryu fell from the small crater that been made by her impact.

She couldn't stop herself from hitting the ground again. Her body shuddered as she struggled to get up. She dragged herself onto her knees, her bones and muscles moaning from the abuse they had just taken. She panted as she gathered her senses. Her nose was bleeding, and she could feel the bride of her nose was pushed to one side.

She took a breath before using her thumb to push it back in place. _Crack!_ She shakily got up to her feet, and Veraj was suddenly charging at her. Her mind scrambled for a technique, a strategy, anything!! She was frozen as the terror from before grabbed her and then she was suddenly on her feet, running for her life.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!" she screamed as she ran from the barreling monster behind her.

He chased her nearly a full lap around the arena before Kiba lost his temper.

"RYU!!" he shouted. "You bubble-head! Stop running and face this creep!!"

Ryu came to a quick halt, her mind resetting at the insult. She looked obstinately up at Kiba.

"Bubble-head?" she said, exasperated. "Who you callin' a bubble-head?!"

"Ryu!! Look out!!" Gaara suddenly shouted, desperate to get her to look behind her.

Veraj was suddenly there behind her, and she shrieked as he grabbed her in a huge bear hug. He squeezed, Ryu letting out a faint squeak in the crushing strength. His hands were then around her jaw, twisting her head in a way to snap her neck. Her eyes widened as she realized what might happen. _Wind!!_ She thought desperately, but her concentration was broken by every squeeze that was directed toward her spine. She thought she heard a few more bones crack somewhere in her body.

Gaara held her breath held his breath, silently praying to whatever god that could hear to save Ryu somehow. Kiba was mentally kicking himself for distracting her. She might die now because of him! Nedgie silently watched as Lee and TenTen were nearly pulling their hair out. He sighed as he looked at his struggling teammate.

Down in the arena, Ryu was still fighting against Veraj's hold on her. She looked straight ahead, and saw that she was almost facing his left ear. She blinked. _Ohmigod, that's it!!!_

"Ready to give up?" Veraj sneered in her ear.

"No, not yet, but if you could squeeze a little harder, that would help!"

Veraj chuckled darkly. "Your funeral!"

Ryu grinned as she found herself facing his ear. She gathered her chakra in her throat and took a breath. _Sound style! Siren's Scream!_ She then screamed, the piercing sound amplified ten times over from her chakra. Veraj immediately dropped her, and she tumbled to the floor. She rolled away from him as he struggled to gain his balance back.

She held her side in pain as it suddenly coursed through her body. Ugh, how many broken bones did she have now? Veraj was charging at her again, roaring like an animal. Ryu's eyes turned purple with sparks of yellow in them. She jumped to her feet with a little compensation for her twisted ankle, and screamed once again.

This one was stronger now that she could use the entirety of her lungs. He was blown backwards by the sound and force, pain ripping through his ears. His ears rang as he struggled to get up, but his balance was completely obliterated. The large boy swayed from side to side. Ryu straightened up and took a breath; she would need to keep pounding this guy if she was going to win.

She launched herself into the air, the usual wisps of cloud gathering around her ankles. She turned once and dove at Veraj. She gathered wind on the way down and slammed the concentrated ball into him. Dust and a little smoke flew into the air, and cleared to reveal a new, smaller crater in the concrete. Ryu then started to flip and jump, using her good leg to aim kicks at her opponent's head.

Her leg was suddenly grabbed once again; the effects of the scream had worn off. Ryu's eyes snapped from purple to yellow from rage. She was not going to be knocked around again. She gathered wind in her hands and threw it at him, blowing him back a good seven feet. She ran after him as Veraj got back on his feet.

She gathered wind again, this time around her good leg. She stopped right in front of him and flipped, her leg catching him in the jaw. He went up into the air, her own strength combined with the wind knocking him away. Veraj fell and landed with a _Crunch!_ Ryu jumped a few feet away, and waited, standing like a stork on her good leg.

When Veraj didn't get up, Sirym walked over. Yep, he was completely out of it. And even if he wasn't, she was going to stop the match. The both of them were beating each other to a pulp. She pointed at Ryu.

"The winner of the seventh match is Ryu Akihara!"

"WOO-HOO!" Lee immediately started to jump around with TenTen. "She did it! She did it!"

Kiba cheered as well, Hinata giving him the space to go crazy. She didn't feel like getting hit by a wild gesture. Gaara smiled at Konkuro.

"She did it! She really won!"

Ryu smiled before she fell onto her knees, panting. She was completely worn out. She had no energy left to even try and get up, never mind the stairs. The medical corps came in to take Veraj to the back room, and a medic nin walked over to her.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he offered her a hand up. She nodded and took his hand to get up.

She wobbled a bit on her bad ankle, and he noticed this. "Are you sure?"

"Ryu!" she heard Nedgie call to her. She looked up.

His eyes were lined with the signs of the Byakugan. Was he using it to see through her? She tried not to shiver; she hated it when he did that. It was so creepy.

"Go with him," he said. "You've got three broken ribs, a twisted ankle, and a fractured shoulder blade."

"Oh, is that why I hurt all over?"

She looked at the medic nin and smiled sheepishly. He helped her walk out of the arena to the back room. She waved to Gaara and Kiba. Al and the tiger cub dashed down the stairs and followed her out. TenTen looked at Nedgie as his eyes went back to normal.

"That was nice of you," she said. He shrugged.

"If she's going to be in the final rounds, she'll need to heal quickly." He said. "So, tell me. What did I miss earlier?"



**R**yu felt like she had been in the medical corps room for about three minutes when TenTen was brough in , followed by Gaara. TenTen was lying on a stretcher, unconscious, while Gaara was pulling all manner of weaponry out of himself, though not anywhere vital. Ryu winced as he pulled a knife out of his shoulder. Hew saw her and gave her a guilty smile.

"I…uh…won," he said, not sounding too happy that he had. She looked to TenTen.

"Is she going to be alright?" she asked. He nodded.

"All I did was hit her on the head," he said, trying to dispel any suspicion from the medical corps.

After what happened last time, everyone held their breath when his name had been picked along with TenTen's. It had been quick, after Gaara had caught the quick-footed girl. But not after she stuck me like a roast pig, he thought, annoyed as the medic nin started to work on getting the senbon and shuriken out of the various places. The sand had gotten most of it, but not all of it after she had used that crazy weapon summoning technique. Ryu looked concerned at him.

"Are you going to be alright?" she asked him. He smiled a small smile at her.

"I'll be okay," he said. He looked to her bandaged ankle. "What about you? I heard what Nedgie said."

She shrugged with her one good shoulder. "I heal quick," she said. She hopped off her cot, wobbling a bit.

A medic nin rushed over. "Wait!"

She handed her a crutch. "You'll need this. It'll make the walking easier."

"Oh, thanks," Ryu said as she took it.

Gaara was suddenly reminded of Lee as he looked at with one crutch. She smiled at him.

"I'm off!" she said happily. "Who's fighting now?"

"Konkuro and some girl named Sara."

"What?! Ah!" Ryu hobbled out of the room as quickly as she could.

She was able to catch the last couple seconds of Sara's match. Splinters and water littered the arena floor. Sara was glowing, using the power of the Sacred Turtle against Konkuro, who was up in the air, surrounded by water. He was struggling to get out of the ball of water he was in. His fingers twitched and Ryu jumped as a huge marionette suddenly leaped to life off the arena floor.

Sara stopped this as well with another ball of water as it came flying toward her. She made a one handed tiger sign and the balls of water froze solid. Ryu gasped as the balls crashed to the floor, the one with Konkuro in it cracking a bit. Sirym jumped into the situation immediately.

"The opponent can no longer battle! Sara Junko is the winner of the ninth match!"

As soon as she finished saying this, Sara clapped her hands. The balls of ice immediately melted, letting a gasping Konkuro out. He took air in great gulps and looked at Sirym.

"Did-gasp-I-wheeze-lose?" he managed to ask. When the proctor nodded, Konkuro collapsed with a groan.

Sara smiled kindly at him and walked over to him. She offered a hand to him.

"Want help?" she asked politely. He looked up at her.

"No… I'm okay…" he mumbled.

The Mist girl started to walk away when she herself was suddenly gasped loudly. She dropped to her knees, struggling to breathe. Ryu recognized this and dropped her crutch. She ran over to her friend, despite the pain, and skidded to a stop next to her. Saphira and her teacher had jumped down to help.

Ryu kneeled next to her, looking into her pan ridden face.

"Sara! What's wrong?!" she asked urgently. Sara squinted at her.

"Can't-breathe!" she rasped. She started to cough uncontrollably, coughing up water and foam.

Saphira gasped. "What's wrong with her?!"

Ryu swore in head. "It's the Turtle! It's acting up for some reason."

By this time, Konkuro had come over to see if he could help. He recognized this. She was acting like Gaara used to when Shukaku was, literally, driving him mad. He then watched as Ryu turned the gasping Sara over and yank her shirt up over her lower back.  
His attention was then drawn to Ryu as she made a series of hand signs so fast, her hands were nearly a blur.

_Holy crap, that's fast, _he thought. She stopped as quickly as she had begun and pressed her right hand to the girl's lower back. A seal appeared but turned red as the girl added her own chakra. She gave one final cough, and then took a clear, deep breath.  
She shakily got up, pulling her shirt down, breathing like she had nearly died.

_She might have…_ Konkuro observed. He wondered about Ryu's hand signs. Where had she learned that, and at such speed? Sara promptly collapsed again, falling unconscious into her sensei's arms. Her sensei smiled gratefully.

"Thankyou," she said. Ryu nodded.

"You're welcome, but you should probably get her some water," she advised.

"That's probably why the turtle freaked out."

Ryu started to hobble away when Konkuro stopped her by handing her her crutch. She blinked.

"Oh. Thanks, Konkuro," she said. He started to walk with her to the stairs.

"So," he started. "What's this turtle you were taking about?"

Ryu looked up at him. "Konkuro, just because you gave me my crutch doesn't mean I can give you info on my best friend," she straightly. This caught him a little off-guard.

"I'm not asking for info," he said innocently. "I just want to know what it is. Considering what I saw, I think I might know already."

"Then be satisfied by what you know," Ryu panted as she tried to go her normal speed. It was hard walking with only one good ankle.

She stopped at the stairs and sized them up. This was going to be a little difficult. She tentively started to hop up them when Konkuro sighed.

"Even so," he said, continuing the conversation. "Do you want help up the stairs. You look like a one-legged kangaroo."

Ryu tried not to blush from the friendly insult. "That would be appreciated," she said.

She was suddenly scooped up like cat, and was up Konkuro's arms.

"Eep!" was all that escaped from her mouth as he did.

He bent forward and picked up her crutch. He looked at her.

"Ready?" he asked. Ryu was still a bit too stunned to answer, but he carried her up anyway.

Gaara was just coming back into the arena room to catch his older brother carrying her up the stairs. He stood there for a moment, thinking, _What the hell is he doing?_ Gaara didn't swear much, but when he saw something stranger then him, that's when he would. He watched him gently put her back down on her feet and then felt the sudden urge to run up there and jump between Konkuro and Ryu. He shook his head; where had that come from?

Konkuro handed Ryu her crutch. She looked at him.

"Wow," she said. "Thanks."

"What was the wow for?" he asked, kind of puzzled at the reaction.

"You're pretty strong." she said plainly.

"Oh, well," Konkuro said in mock ego. "When you're a guy like me…"

Ryu laughed as he waggled his eyebrows. Nedgie rolled his eyes. The puppet master smiled, glad that he had made her laugh, and waved as he went to place across the arena. When he got over, he couldn't help the small pout on Gaara's face.

"What's the matter with you?" he asked. He shook his head.

"Nothing."

Konkuro rolled his eyes. _Liar._

"Okay, fine. When she has to go up another set of stairs, I'll let you carry her." He teased. Gaara tried not to turn red.

"That's not funny Konkuro…"

Sirym got up from leaning on what was left of the arena wall, considering the damage from Reks' vine summoning and Veraj's use of Ryu like a baseball. The arena was quickly going to pieces with holes and craters riddling the floor. She sighed; it looked even worse then last time's mess. Except there was less sand everywhere. She looked around at the genin, it seemed social hour was over so she could start the next match.

She activated the screen again with the remote, and started to go through the remaining names. There were only four names left so there wasn't much to pick from.

**Rock Lee vs. Ikara**

Lee nearly exploded with sound. "YEEEEES!!!" he practically screamed, making Ryu nearly jump out of her skin with his enthusiasm.

She looked over at the Sound girl with her teacher. Her teacher nudged the girl, who looked up. Had she been asleep? She looked around until she realized she was up. Lee had already hopped down and was ready to go. Guy had already started to cheer for him.

"Go, Lee!" he shouted. "Show 'em what you're made of!!"

"Yes, sire!!!"

Ikara calmly walked down the stairs and faced him. Lee seemed a little disappointed to be fighting a girl. She cocked her head at him.

"What?' she asked bluntly. He fidgeted.

"No offense, but I'm not very comfortable about fighting girls." he said, trying not to insult her. Ikara folded her arms.

"Well, I'm not comfortable fighting guys. How's that sound, Sparky?" she said to him. He didn't know what to do, but then it made sense.

He smiled at her. "I think I like you," he said. She shrugged.

"That's nice. I might like you after we fight."

Sirym looked from one genin to the other. She put her hand between them.

"You may now… Begin!"

She hopped out of the way like before. Lee leaped away a bit to get some distance between him and Ikara. Girl, or not he would have to beat her to make it to the final rounds. Ikara took a taijutsu stance. Lee then charged at her, full speed.

"Leaf Hurricane!"

Surprisingly, she ducked just in time, and came back with a punch to his chest. Lee stumbled back a bit, the wind knocked out of him. She chased after him, and executed her own kick. But Lee flipped out of the way just in time, and swung his legs at her again, aiming for her feet. She jumped those, vaulted over his head, and tried to kick him from behind.

He caught her foot with his hand. She spun in the air, wriggling her foot out of his hold, and attempted to kick him again. Lee bent over backwards, her sandals missing his head by a few inches. He flipped over backwards, and faced her with his usual stance. Ikara was back on her feet, and in the same position she had started in.

"You're good," Lee said. She smiled.

"Thanks. You're pretty good yourself."

They went after one another again; tumbling, flipping, jumping, and leaping over one another's attacks. Nedgie, Ryu, and Guy were watching intently. This girl was giving Lee a good work out. Ryu was actually pretty excited to see Lee fighting; she'd never seen him except for that one mission. He was cool to watch!

She knew a lot of other people thought he was a hopeless dork, but she thought Lee was cool in his own way. Ikara and Lee were facing one another again, getting ready for another round. They both had bruises and scrapes now. As crazy as Lee's speed was, this girl actually seemed able to keep up with him. He looked up at Guy, looking like he was asking something.

Guy folded his arms, and then put up one finger. _Once. Just this once, but never again. _Lee smiled at him, and looked to Ikara.

"I hope you won't hold it against me if I hurt you," he said to her as he undid some of the bandages on his arms. Ikara shrugged.

"I've been hurt before," she said as she undid her hair. It suddenly flared now being loosed from its bun.

_Yikes, that's a lot of hair. _thought Ryu as she looked at it. It nearly reached to the floor, it was so long. Lee charged at her once again, faster then before. Ikara braced herself and got ready to dodge, but then found herself caught by his kick. He was kicking her more, putting her into the air, floating. She tried to bring herself down, but then Lee was suddenly behind her. She turned to look at him, but then found herself being tangled up in the bandages.

"Wha-?! Hey!!"

They wrapped around her, and then they were spinning downward. The force that they ht the ground was enough to create another crater, and dust was thrown into the air. Ryu covered her mouth, and tried to see what was going on. The dust settled and Lee was seen crouching a few feet away. He was panting heavily, and looked like he was pretty much through. Everyone looked to the crater, but was shocked to see a cocoon of hair. Lee blinked. _Shit. _

Ikara shakily stood up from the crater, her hair twisting like it was alive. She stepped out and then it lashed out at him. Lee was able to jump out of the way, but was then tripped up by another length of hair. She had divided it into fourths, all of which were wrapped around Lee's limbs. He struggled to be free, but she tightened her hold like a boa constrictor whenever he did.

Ikara then made a few hand signs, and electricity crackled around her. It spiked the air, and then surged down her hair toward Lee. He started to struggle violently, but the hair acted like electric cords. He was hit with a giant shock, and cried out from it. It was a large hit of electricity, and when Ikara finally released him, he merely fell over like a limp doll.

Ryu held her breath as she watched the smoke come off her teammate. Sirym waited a moment and then went over to Lee. He was still alive, but was in a state of shock. She pointed at Ikara.

"The winner of the tenth match is Ikara!"

The moment she stopped speaking, Lee suddenly sat up. "What?!"

Sirym spun around and stared. "But-! You-! How are you moving already?!" she gaped at him.

Ikara seemed pretty shocked as well. She went over to him, and looked him in the face.

"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked. He nodded.

"Yes. Are we still fighting?"

Ikara rubbed the back of her neck. "Uh… Well… You were knocked out so…"

"Oh…" Lee slumped over, quickly depressed.

Ikara frowned. "Sorry…" she said, holding one of her arms.

Lee got up, but then promptly fell over. "Ohmigosh!" Ikara exclaimed as she caught him.

He looked up at her and lightly laughed. "I guess I'm not as alright as I thought I was," he said. Ikara sighed.

"Well, at least I got to fight someone with spirit," she said. He smiled at her, almost goofily.

The medic nin came out to treat Lee, and she handed him over to them. She still seemed kind of guilty, so he sat up as much as he could.

"Ikara," he said. She looked up. "I'm glad I fought you."

This brought a small smile to her face, and she walked up the stairs to her teacher. Guy sighed.

"I thought he was going to win…" he said sadly.

Ryu patted him, feeling his pain. She had wanted him to win too. But these chunin exams were toss ups, or so she had learned. It all depended on whether or not your opponent had something up their sleeve, like Reks and Ikara had. Kiba had won on luck and a good strategy, but Lee had proven to be unlucky even with all his training. It didn't seem fair, but from what Ryu coud see, Ikara wasn't very proud of her win. Especially since Lee had popped up seconds after Sirym had called him out.

"It's okay, Guy," she said. "There's always next time."

"Guy-sensei!"

Guy looked up from his own depression to see Lee sitting up in the stretcher. He was grinning despite his loss and giving him a thumbs-up. Guy laughed to himself and did it back. Ryu saw out of the corner of her eye that Nedgie smiled the smallest of smiles. She couldn't tell whether he was smiling at Lee's optimistic spirit or at his loss.

She hoped it was the spirit. Sirym looked around at the genin and sighed. She really wished she had waited in the last match, but she had been nervous. Electric shock needed immediate treatment or at least that's what she had been taught. So, she swallowed her guilt to be saved for another time, and went to the center of the arena.

"Will the last two combatants please come down?" she called.

Saphira walked down and stood in the center and waited as Shikamaru walked down. He stood looking blankly at her. Sirym was about to let them start when she looked at Shikamaru.

"Wh-?" She looked at Saphira and then looked to Shikamaru. She pointed at him. "Aren't you already a chunin?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Yeah."

Sirym blinked, her temper peaking dangerously, and gritted her teeth. "You-! You-!"

Shikamaru just apathetically blinked at her. She pointed her index finger at him like it was a gun.

"You! Get back up there!" she nearly snarled at him as she pointed at the railing.

She suddenly pointed at Saphira, making her jump. "You! You win!"

Saphira looked puzzled. "I what? Oh… Okay…"

Both 'combatants' walked up to the railing. Sirym turned around and glared as Asuma. _You idiot!! What were you thinking?!_ Her eyes seemed to scream at him. Asuma just smiled sheepishly. She turned back around and looked a the hokage, tryig to calm down. Tsunade nodded, and Sirym turned back around.

"Will all those who have made it to the final rounds come down here?" she said, her voice echoing with ease like it had when it all began.

Guy looked to Ryu. "Do you want help down the stairs?" he asked.

"Not on your life," she said as she hobbled away. "You'll probably drop me!"

Guy stared at her back for a moment. "Oh!" he said in realization. "Are you still mad at me for the whole railing thing? Because, honestly, I didn't mean-"

Ryu looked back at him with eyes being an angry shade of yellow and purple which quickly quieted Guy down. He had almost forgotten how angry she had been with him the last time. _"I'm going to be I n trouble for a while, _he thought. He looked over at Kakashi, who shrugged.

"You could always try being gentler with her," he suggested.

Gaara got down the stairs before Ryu did, and he looked up at her as Sakura and Hinata past her. He sighed as he walked up them to her. She looked at him as he looked at her matter-of-factly.

"Do you want help?" he asked with his soft as ash voice.

"Sure," she said. She bit her lip as she prepared herself for what his definition of help was.

He took her crutch from her and then wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He was letting her lean on him and he was partly carrying her down the stairs, but was still letting her walk on her own. She didn't know whether she liked this more then Konkuro carrying her up the stairs or not. They had just gotten to the landing when a very pale and exhausted looking Temari came out. She looked at the two of them for a moment.

"What happened to you, Ryu?" she asked, her voice a mere ghost of what is was.

"Oh, my ankle got messed up in the match," she said as Gaara let go of her and handed her the crutch. She frowned at her, concerned. "Are you sure you should be moving so soon?"

Temari nodded. "I just can't run around as much as I used to for a while," she said.

She started to slowly climb the stairs to where her brother and Baki were standing. She sat down on the concrete walk-way, both her brother and teacher asking about. She waved them away.

"I want to watch this," she said, stubbornly avoiding the topic.

Her eyes would of gone right through Aki if they could as she looked at him.

All the genin who had passed stood in front of Sirym, Anko, Musashi, Shizunae, and Tsunade. Tsunade stepped forward, smiling.

"Nice job, you guys," she said. "I'm glad so many of were able to make it, even with the tough competition this time."

She took a piece of paper out of her back pocket.

"Now I now some of you have heard this spiel before, but bear with me." She said as she looked at the paper. "The third part of the exam is going to take place one month from now. That gives you thirty days to rest, train, and heal. Some of you may have revealed all of your tricks in your match, or you may have only showed a sliver of what you're capable of. So this gives you a while to brush up and learn some new tricks that might save your butt in the final part of the exam."

She looked to Anko. "Anko is going to bring a box around with papers in it. Only take one, and don't look in the box."

Anko stepped up to each of them, and everyone took a piece of paper. Ryu noticed that Musashi had a clipboard and pen ready. What was that for?

"Okay," Tsunade said. "Read your numbers off, right to left."

"Um… I've got five," Hinata said, trying not to whisper.

"Six," Sakura said. Both Hinata and Sakura looked at one another.

"Eight," said Aki.

"One," said Kiba, not sounding very happy.

_That's just great, I get to go first. Blegh! _He thought grumpily. He looked over at Ryu who was standing next to him. It would suck if she got two.

"Uh…" Ryu turned her paper right-side up. "Nine."

"Seven." Gaara said. He was looking directly at Aki while he said it.

"Two," Sara said in a scratchy voice.

Kiba looked over at her. _Crud, _he thought. _How am I going to fight that? A girl who could stick me in ice like some kind of caveman thing! _Ikara unfolded her paper.

"Four," she said. She looked at Saphira.

"Three," she said, looking back at her.

Tsunade looked at Musashi. "Musashi, show them the order of the final exam." she said.

Musashi finished writing something and then turned the clipboard around to show that final exam was matches fought in a tournament style. Ryu thought she might fall over. Wait, if she had nine and that Aki guy had eight, did that mean…? She looked closer at it, holding her breath. No, that didn't mean she was paired up with him.

The first part of the tournament went Kiba and Sara, Saphira and Ikara, and Sakura and Hinata. After those rounds were fought, Aki, Gaara, and Ryu were added on to fight whoever won those three battles. But it looked like Gaara, if he won, would have to fight an extra round with whoever won against Aki, if he lost that is. It looked… complicated to her for some reason. But if she beat either Sakura or Hinata, whoever won their match, she'd have a straight shot to the final battle.

She didn't know whether that was a good or a bad thing. But that still meant she'd have to wait for everyone else to fight, or would she…? She shook her head. She would just go down when she was called. Tsunade nodded at all of them.

"You may go now," she said. "Good luck, all of you."

Ryu sighed as she turned. She looked at Gaara, and smiled at him.

"Thanks for helping me down the stairs," she said to him. He smiled back at her.

"You're welcome." he said. He looked at her ankle. "But how are you going to train when you're injured like this?"

Ryu shrugged with her one good shoulder. "I heal pretty fast, I'll be alright," she said. She then grinned. "Besides, that means I get to sit at home and do nothing all day!"

Gaara laughed quietly. He then realized Baki was calling him over so they could go. Temari looked like she wanted to go lie down again. Gaara looked back at Aki, his eyes cutting his back. He was determined to face him in the final rounds. Then he realized something.

If he beat Aki, that meant he might have to face Ryu in the last battle. He bit his lip, trying to hide it from his teasing brother. He didn't want to hurt her, just like he hadn't wanted to hurt TenTen. How could he fight a friend, especially Ryu, who was starting to become very important to him. He had wanted to jump down in that arena and ring that meat sack's neck with his bare hands after what he had done to her.

He had no idea if he could fight her. Then again, he could always let her win. But he got the feeling Ryu wouldn't be too happy with him if he did that. As Gaara pondered this internal predicament, Guy was still trying to get Ryu to talk to him. It wasn't going well.

Nedgie was walking between them, trying not to laugh at the whole situation. He found the entire thing ridiculous, especially Guy's undying efforts to lessen Ryu's 'silent treatment'. They were walking to the medic nins' room to pick up TenTen and Lee. When they got in, Kurenai was talking with Shino, and Asuma was trying to comfort a sullen Choji. Apparently he had really wanted to win, something about a bet with Shikamaru or something like that.

Ryu turned when she heard TenTen laughing. She saw her sitting up with Gegai sitting next to her. They were both laughing as TenTen held an icepack to her head. Lee was in a cot next to them, talking as if the electric shock had never happened. She looked up at them as they came over.

"Well, you seem to be feeling better," Guy said to her, smiling. TenTen smiled back.

"Yep! Gegai was just telling me some really great stories," she said. Ryu smiled, glad that she and Gegai were getting along alright.

Nedgie, on the other hand, thought TenTen was acting a little punchy. Maybe Gaara had hit her on the head too hard. After Guy asked if they were ready to go, they left. Lee still needed a little help to walk so a medic nin gave him a set of crutches.

"Oh, look! We're twins!" Ryu giggled as they both hobbled along.

It took them about an hour to get back to the center of the village, Nedgie and TenTen breaking off from the group to go home since they lived near each other. Plus, Nedgie wanted to keep an eye on TenTen as they walked home. Guy was going to walk Ryu and Lee home, since they both needed help up the stairs. Ryu let go of her grudge enough so Guy could get her up the stairs. He stayed there a moment as she got her door open, Al winding his way around her legs the entire time while the tiger cub chewed on the bottom of Guy's left pant leg.

"Ryu," he said. "I'm… sorry that I pushed you over the railing. I didn't mean to."

Ryu put her keys back in her bag. "Oh, I know that," she said. "I just wish you'd be more careful."

She smiled at him. "It's okay! I forgive you, Guy!" she said, telling him what he wanted to hear. Guy smiled at her, and rubbed her head.

"I knew you couldn't stay mad at me forever!"

"I will if you keep messing with my hair!!"

Guy laughed and then walked down the stairs. Both him and Lee waved goodbye, and she waved back. She walked into her apartment, Al following her in. He immediately jumped onto her bed and startedto roll all over it. Ryu laughed and brought the cub inside to explore her new surroundings.

The cub started to tentively sniff everything. Ryu dropped her bag on the floor, and kicked off her dusty sandals. She undid her hair, the wavy dark blonde hair reaching a little past her shoulders. She tugged on a curl, watching it bounce back into place. She sighed and headed to the bathroom.

She was going to take the longest shower of her life.


	11. The Many Uses of a Sword

**Author's Note:** Hey everybody! How's everyone's school year goin'? Or are you one of the lucky ducks that have graduated and don't have to go to school yet? Well, I'm happy to say that T.W.W.o.D is nearing its one year anniversary. Pretty cool, huh? It will be one year old this October. I think I'll make art for it. Maybe. If I can find the time and ideas to make something, probably a wallpaper or an icon maybe… I dunno…gimme ideas! Oh, and I finally changed Neji's name so it's correct now. But he's still edgy! XD Happy reading!!   
-Ryu 

**The Many Uses of a Sword**

**R**yu richly yawned as she woke up in her own bed. She scratched the back of her head and looked at Al and the newly named Raikera at the foot of her bed. Or on her feet, which were asleep, in Raikera's case. Ryu wiggled her toes and the tiger cub immediately jumped up and tried to pounce on the moving things underneath her. Ryu giggled as Raikera then pounced on Al, looking for someone to play with, and Ryu got out of he bed to start another day.

It had been one week since the completion of the preliminaries, and Ryu was already starting to feel better. Her ankle was healed and she could move her shoulder as much as she wanted; it just felt stiff. Her side was still sore though. She had nearly scared TenTen into fainting when she showed up for training one day without any bandages. Guy had sent her home saying there was no possible way she could be healed already.  
The next day, after Neji had gotten a look at her, she was told she could train, but only for a certain number of hours under Guy's supervision. This did nothing for Ryu's mood, but she put up with it. She hadn't revealed the complete extent of her wind capabilities in the preliminaries, but she had with her Sound techniques. She had shyly asked Guy if she could on them, and was told she could, but only in her free time. Guy had already decided what her training schedule would be.

He wanted her to get used to using the basic ninja techniques, such as weaponry and taijustu, which still needed work. But he also wanted her to be prepared to face the worst of her opponents. So he decided it would be best for Ryu to train with her teammates to train her, since they each excelled in their own field. She would train with TenTen on Mondays and Tuesdays, Lee on Wednesdays, and Neji on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Of course Ryu had objected completely about training with Neji, but Guy said it was more then likely that she would be facing Hinata rather then Sakura so she should get used to fighting against the Hyuga style.

It was Monday morning, so Ryu was going to go to the training grounds to meet up with TenTen and work on her marksmanship. She was putting her hair up when there was a knock on the door. Al's food was waiting on the counter so she put that down before going to answer the door. It was Kiba, who looked a little surprised to either see her up and about or with her hair down.

"Uh… Hey," he said. "You're feeling better already?"

She nodded. "Uh-huh." She walked back inside. "Come on in."

He walked in with Akumaru right behind him. Raikera was suddenly in front of him, sniffing his feet while Ryu stuck her hair up in a messy ponytail. Al and Akumaru started to run around the apartment. Kiba walked over and sat down, and watched Ryu get out a bottle with milk in it from the refrigerator.

"What's that for?" he asked as he watched her get out a pan, fill it with water, and then put it on the stove to boil.

She put the bottle in the water. "It's Raikera's breakfast," she said. She sat down across from him. "So, what's up?"

Kiba shrugged. "Nothing. I just came by to see how you were doing," he said. He looked down at her ankle.

"It's only been a week. Are you sure you should be moving around without your crutch and sling?"

"Oh, Neji and one of the doctors checked me out. They both said everything was healed." she said as she suddenly realized she was hungry. She got up and started to root around for a box of cereal.

She turned to him. "Have you eaten?" she asked him.

"Yeah."

He looked down to see Raikera gnawing on his sandals. He tried to shake her off as Ryu started to eat her own breakfast. She looked up at him.

"So, why are you here? Shouldn't you be training with Kurenai right now?" she asked, trying to sound more inquisitive then rude. "I mean, you're in the final rounds, same as me, and Guy already has me working like a dog."

Kiba finally picked up the teething Raikera and stuck her own his lap. She then took to sucking on his thumb, which he didn't seem to mind.

"Kurenai gives us Mondays off. I was hoping we could do something today, but since Guy already has you training…" He let the sentence trail off.

Ryu frowned. "Sorry... It has been a while since we got to just hang out together…" she said. She finished her cereal and then went to check on the bottle.

The milk inside was pleasantly warm. She turned to feed Raikera but saw that she was already in Kiba's lap. She smiled as she got an idea.

"Do you want to feed her?" she asked, offering him the bottle. He looked up.

"Oh, sure…" He took the bottle and easily slid it into the tiger cub's mouth.

Ryu watched him feed her for a while; he was pretty good at it. Almost like he was taught how to feed a suckling animal. She started to clean up after herself, avoiding the playful Akumaru and Al. Akumaru stopped to paw her knees and lick her leg in greeting only to be pounced upon by Al in a mere three seconds. Ryu went back to Kiba.

"You're good at this," she remarked as he fed the tiger cub.

"Thanks," he said. He propped the cub onto his shoulder, and started to gentler pat her.

Raikera let out what seemed to be a burp. Ryu giggled, making Kiba smile. He handed Raikera over to her.

"Sometimes we have to help the mother dogs," he said to her. "I had to feed Akumaru this way when I first got him."

"Really?" Ryu said as she held the cub in her arms. She seemed to have settled down now that she was fed. "I'm doubting he ever acted like this one though."

Kiba laughed. "Well, no. But if you ever need help, let me know." he said.

Ryu put Raikera down on her bed, and grabbed her bag. Kiba got up from his seat.

"Sorry, Kiba, but I have to kick out," she said as she went to the door. "TenTen's expecting me at the training grounds in about fifteen minutes."

Kiba shrugged. "I understand. Akumaru!"

The puppy and Al followed both of them outside. Kiba saw Ryu set new watch to sound in three hours time. He already knew that was the alarm to go back and feed Raikera. They said their goodbyes and made promises to meet up and make plans somehow. Maybe a lunch at some point, but not until they both got time off from their senseis.

When Ryu got to the training grounds, she saw TenTen was already waiting for her. She looked around.

"Where are Neji, Lee, and Guy?" she asked as she saw they weren't around.

"They're off on a mission. It sounded pretty easy so they said we could train on our own." TenTen said as she gathered weapons up.



"**O**wowowowowowow!!!!!!" Lee howled as the cats seemed to swarm out of the alley like wasps to attack him. "Get these things off of me!!"

But Neji and Guy were dealing with their own animal problem: the neighborhood dogs. They had shown up to investigate the noise and they were hungry.



"**S**o, let's get started." TenTen said as they both walked onto a field with targets off at various distances.

She put the bag down she was carrying and emptied it onto the ground. All manner of weapons poured out of it, including chain scythes, kunai knives, shuriken, daggers, and the like. A couple of hand weapons came out too like hand axes, a short sword, and the slim scabbard of a katana. She gestured to the pile.

"Pick out what you like and we'll get started," TenTen said. She herself picked up a few kunai knives, and started to toss them in the air.

Ryu surveyed the pile and picked a few things out; a couple of kunai knives, several shuriken, and then she picked up the katana scabbard. TenTen nodded at her choices and turned toward the targets.

"Have you ever done this before?" she asked Ryu. "Target practice, I mean."

Ryu thought a moment. "Mostly with my wind attacks, but nothing like this." she said. She looked at the shuriken in her hand, unsure about the entire training exercise.

"Alright, watch me," TenTen instructed. She flipped the kunai knife into her hand and then threw it.

It hit the target in the bull's-eye on the chest. It was quickly followed by every other kunai knife and shuriken TenTen had. Every single one hit the bull's-eye. Ryu felt a little intimidated by the whole demonstration. TenTen looked back at her.

"Now you try," she said. Ryu stepped forward, biting her lip.

She decided to try handling the knives like darts. She aimed the knife and threw it. It landed with a dull in the target's shin, nowhere near any of the vital areas she was supposed to be hitting. She looked over at TenTen, cringing over her embarrassment. She smiled at her.

"Don't worry about it; just keep trying." she said.

She did, and each knife landed in a different place then the last. There wasn't any consistency at all with her aim. TenTen kept encouraging her not to stop, and watched her aim with folded arms. She wasn't handling the knives properly; had she even learned this at all? After a few attempts landed in the dirt, she walked over to a frustrated Ryu.

"Okay, I'm going to show you something," she said. She picked up a kunai knife.

She held the knife so it hung against her palm, in the opposite direction she was going to throw it in.

"Try holding it like this,"

Ryu mimicked her hold, and watched TenTen swing the knife so she held it between her thumb and index finger. She copied and then watched TenTen bring her arm back, and throw the kunai knife like a Frisbee. The knife landed in the bulls-eye again, this time in the head. She looked at Ryu.

"Try that."

Ryu frowned. "I don't know TenTen, this really isn't as easy as you make it look…" she said, sounding discouraged.

"Just keep trying. I've been doing this for three years, remember? And you just started today. Don't be so hard on yourself." TenTen encouraged her.

Ryu continued to frown as she tried TenTen's throw. It seemed to work. The knives she threw landed in the same place on the dummy, just not near the target. Maybe if she raised her arm… She tried a few more times, and finally hit one of the target rings of the dummy. She nearly squealed.

"Did you see that?!" she cried, happy at her success. " I hit one of the circles!"

TenTen smiled. "Great. Keep working on that along with the shuriken."

A few hours passed by, between which Ryu ran back to the apartment to feed Raikera, and TenTen watched her progression quietly, handing out pointers and encouragement as she needed it. She was a little surprised how quickly she got the hang of it. She had started to hit the target a lot more often, and had even struck the bulls-eye more then once. At this rate, she'd have a good understanding of it all by the third week. After a while, the both of them decided it was time for a break.

Ryu sat underneath a tree, catching her breath and giving her arms a rest. TenTen got up.

"I'm going to get some lunch," she said as she brushed herself off. "What do you want?"

"Uh…" Ryu thought a moment. She then shrugged. "I kind of like anything. Just nothing too spicy."

"Okay."

TenTen nodded and went off towards the inner parts of the village. She's just go to Inchiraku's for some ramen to go. She wondered if Ryu liked pork in her soup. Ryu stared up into the tree leaves. Well, this was going to be an uneventful month if all she was going to do was train.

She started to think of what she could do on her own. After all, she could do a lot more stuff then what Guy was teaching her. There were the Akihara jutsus she could work on from her dad's journal, and the Sound techniques from her mother's notes along with the stuff Dr. Masuda taught her about spirits and summonings. If she was able to get all the research done and cram the practice time in, she could come up with a bunch of tricks and strategies for the final rounds. _But first, I have to hit those darn bulls-eyes, _she thought as she looked at the targets.

She got up and walked over to one of the dummies and pulled everything out of it. No use in wasting weapons when they were right in front of her. She tugged on a stubbornly embedded kunai knife, obviously from TenTen, and it flew from her grasp. She quickly air slid to catch it. Ryu stopped a moment as she looked at the knife. She had an idea.

TenTen came back with a plastic bag which contained two pork ramen containers, and some soda she had picked up at a store. Al was asleep underneath a tree, but she couldn't find Ryu where she had left her. Ryu then poked her head out of the bushes from where the training dummies were.

"Oh, good! You're back!" she said. "C'mere! Look what I figured out how to do!"

TenTen droped the soup and caffeine as gently as she could, and jogged over to see what she had done, or figured out how to do rather. Ryu was standing to hit the test dummy. She smiled, her usual energy pouring out of her.

"Watch this," she said. She picked up a few kunai knives and shuriken.

She started to air slide while throwing the knives and shuriken. But she was air sliding on the ground but in the air as well. She was moving around, and jumped so that it looked like she was being held up with invisible string. She was in the air, on her stomach and then sideways, looking like she was standing on invisible walls. She came down when she ran out of things to throw. TenTen was impressed by her dexterity, but was more impressed that she was able to hit the target the whole time she had been moving. She clapped excitedly.

"Wow! Ryu, that's so cool!" she said. Ryu smiled.

"Thanks! It's actually kind of fun, once you get the hang of it," she said, proud of her success. TenTen motioned back to where Al was.

"Come on, let's eat lunch. You can practice some more afterward," she said as she walked back.

"Okay. What's for lunch anyway?"

"Pork ramen from Ichiraku's."

"Ich-whatzit?"



**G**uy, Lee, and Neji came back just in time to see Ryu's throwing technique perfected. Lee and Guy cheered while Neji just nodded. The day was ended with a group training exercise, and Guy told Ryu he would be around to supervise tomorrow. Ryu got up the next morning prepared to practice with her technique a little bit, but also how to figure out how to use the sword she had picked up yesterday. TenTen had saved it for today.

Ryu actually bumped into Gaara on the walk over, who seemed as surprised as Kiba to see her up and about so quickly. She asked about Temari, who didn't seem to have Ryu's freaky healing abilities. She was stuck in bed on orders fro the doctor. Gaara told her he was stuck training with Konkuro and Baki, which didn't have much promise for new jutsu or techniques. She told him about her training schedule, and the both of them promised to try and meet up at the library the next time their books were due. Which reminded Ryu of a lot she had to do on her own…

She met up with TenTen and Guy at the normal training sight for target practice. Lee and Neji were practicing on their own on their individual specialties. Guy sat back and watched TenTen and Ryu work on their marksmanship. After a few rounds, Guy decided it was time for Ryu to work with the sword; Ryu smiled, she had been looking forward to this.

Guy pulled out two wooden swords out of the bag, and the smile disappeared.

"Uh… Guy?" she said. "I thought we were going to practice with real swords."

Guy looked at her, and then laughed. "Right at the beginning? Ha! No!" he said, He patted Ryu on the head. "Once I think you'll be ready to handle a sword without hurting yourself, then I'll give you the real thing."

Ryu quietly smoldered as Guy handed her the wooden sword. A wooden sword? A wooden sword?! Of all the-!! She wanted to chop something in half, darn it, not whack TenTen around with a hollow stick!

She handled the sword with an iron grip, determined to show Guy she could handle a real sword. He gave TenTen the all clear to attack her and they went at it. Guy watched with the eyes of a hawk; she was a natural at this. He was surprised. From what TenTen had told him yesterday, her progression had been quck, but her aim was mediocre.

But this was different; she was doing every block and thrust naturally, or at least that's what it looked like. From what the professor had told him, Ryu had no experience with a sword. It was after a few quick moves, that Ryu suddenly disarmed TenTen and was pointing the sword at her throat. Ryu smiled.

"I win!" she declared happily. TenTen stuck her tongue out teasingly.

"Nyah! Says you!"

Both girls ended up giggling at their remarks. Guy smiled.

"Alright, both of you. I want you to train three more times and then work on your marksmanship some more after that. I'm going to keep an eye on Neji and Lee," he said. With that, he left.

Ryu pouted as soon as he did. "Aw, come on!" she softly whined. "TenTen, you saw what I can do! I can handle a real sword!"

She folded her arms stubbornly. TenTen shrugged as she picked up her wooden sword.

"Guy just want to make sure you'll be ready, that's all. He doesn't want you to get hurt," she said. She pointed her sword at her friend. "It's all fun and games until someone loses a finger."

Ryu rolled her eyes as she got ready for TenTen's next move.

"I know… I know…" she said, familiar with the whole wait-until-you're-ready motive from Dr. Masuda. He had been the same way with her and tailing spirits and mediums.

Ryu and TenTen had a few more bouts, TenTen winning once, but that was because Ryu tripped on her own feet and fell into the bushes. She may have been a natural, but she was still a natural klutz. TenTen thought about that situation for a moment. If that had been a real battle, Ryu could of just pushed her away with her wind. She actually had it pretty good when it came to fighting, it all just depended on her state of mind at the moment of battle.

When Guy came back to check on them, they were back to target practice, just as he had instructed them.

"Hey," he said, getting their attention. "It's time for lunch. Are you coming or staying?"

TenTen heard her stomach growl impatiently. "Uh… I'm coming!" she said.

Ryu looked at her watch. "Yeah, but I'm going back to my apartment," she said. "I've got to feed Raikera.

Guy nodded and they left for lunch as Ryu went her own way to feed Raikera. The trouble with Raikera was that she started to chew on whatever she could grab when she got hungry. So far, Ryu's extra pair of flip-flops had disappeared and the wooden chairs were taking a beating. She put Al's food down first when she got to the apartment and then fed Raikera. She had immediately pounced on her sandals as soon as she came in.

The little needles were starting to turn into incisors and canines so Ryu was going to have to break her of her habit of chewing on people's clothing. She would also have to come up with something else to feed her. Maybe hamburger meat or something… She ate a sandwich for her own lunch and then went back to the training grounds.

It seemed she was early when she saw that no one was there when she got back. She walked around the training ground for a while, Al following her around where ever she went. She went back to the target dummies and worked on her throwing technique. It was after all of this that she noticed that Guy had left all the equipment lying on the ground, including the swords that she and TenTen were supposed to practice with once he determined she could handle it. Ryu grinned wickedly; she would only take a peek.

She walked over and picked the scabbard up. She unsheathed the katana, immediately mesmerized by the high-pitched hum the blade made when drawn. She handled it with care, the metal singing as it was moved. She fell completely in love with the sound it was making, the sharp sound of something she couldn't identify that made it. She swung it gently, listening more to the sound it made when it moved then working on her technique.

She did this for quite some time, measuring the pitch and notes of the sword's movements. She was figuring out which movements made which sounds, loving everything about it. She wondered if she could somehow make it louder, like she did with her Siren Scream technique.

"Ryu!!"

The sudden noise her name made nearly made her drop the sword. Ryu spun around to see TenTen coming through the bushes.

"What are you doing?!" she whispered savagely. "Guy said to wait!"

"I know!" Ryu whispered back. "I just wanted to look at it!"

"Ugh! When Guy says not to do something, you're really not supposed to do it! What if you get caught?!"

"Well, is he here?!" Ryu asked, still whispering. TenTen shook her head.

"No, him and the other guys are still at lunch."

"Oh. So, why are we whispering?"

TenTen blinked. "I… really don't know…"

She sighed. "So, if you're done looking at it, put it back!"

Ryu fidgeted, not letting go of the sword. TenTen gave her a stern look.

"Ryu…"

"I know!" she lightly snapped at her. "But… It makes such a nice sound!"

TenTen cocked her head in curiosity. "…Sound?"

Ryu nodded. "Yeah, it sounds really pretty. Here, listen."

She moved the sword around in the air, the metallic sound vibrating. TenTen listened, but didn't seem as enamoured of it as Ryu was. She did smile though. Ryu smiled back.

"So? What do you think?" she asked.

"I think that was nice, but really, put it back!"

Ryu looked at her stubbornly. "TenTen, seriously, you're worrying too much. I just want to try something and then I'll put it back," she said trying to reassure her. TenTen folded her arms.

"That's what you said before!"

"Just one second!"

"Ryu!!! You're going to get us into so much trouble!!!"

"So, then go watch for Guy if you're so worried!!"

"Oh, fine!"

TenTen jumped over the bushes to keep an eye out for Guy. She looked back at Ryu.

"I'm only doing this so you don't get hit!" she said. Ryu waved her off.

"Don't worry, I'll be quick."

Ryu looked at the sword. She held it up in front of her, studying the sound. If this worked like her Siren Scream did, then this would be easy. But how could she gather chakra in a place that wasn't in her body. She thought for a moment, and decided to try gathering chakra in her hands, and then try to channel it into the sword. She concentrated and felt the energy stirring, flowing toward her hands, and the connect with the sword. She put more chakra into it, trying to fill with as much as she could, like her Scream. It felt like a water balloon that was too full, ready to burst at any second. She held it bac, concentrating as hard as she could.

"Oh, hi, Guy-sensei!!" she suddenly heard TenTen say pretty loudly.

The sound made her jump, breaking her hold on the chakra. It burst out, magnifying the sound of the sword the same way it did with her Scream. The metallic note sang across the field, slicing the dummy in front of her in half.

Silence.

"What was that?" she heard Guy say.

Ryu started to panic, scrambling towards the sword's scabbard. She had just gotten to it, and was bending over to pick it up when she saw Guy's sandals in her face. She looked up.

"Uh… Hi, Guy…" she said, trying not to sound too guilty.

He frowned. "Ryu, what were you doing?" he asked seriously.

"Um…"

He swiped the sword from her with speed she'd never seen before. She fell into a sitting position from the swift movement. She could see Lee, Neji, and TenTen behind the bushes, TenTen looking pretty worried and the others just watching.

"Ryu, I asked what you were doing," he repeated.

Ryu shifted. "I was… trying to do something with the sword…" she admitted.

_I am so dead…_she thought as she looked at the ground. He looked at the sword and then looked at her.

"Did that have something to do with the sound I heard?"

"Yes…"

He sighed. "Alright, show me what you did."

She looked up at him, surprised. "You… What?"

He motioned for her to get up. "Show me what you did."

She got up and looked over at hr teammates. TenTen shrugged. Guy held the sword out to her and she gingerly took it from him. She then held the sword out in front of her like she did before and concentrated. She noticed it was easier then before, and let it go.

The sound sung as before and cut another slice in the dummy in front of her. Guy noticed this. He looked at her.

"Interesting…" he said while rubbing his chin. "How did you do that?"

"Um… I focused all my chakra into my hands and then I put it into the sword. Then I let it go." she explained. She was still a bit nervous about her breaking the rule.

Guy sighed once more. "Ryu, I'm glad you were able to make something like that, but you still broke one of the rules." He said. Ryu cringed. "I want you to go with Lee and do 5,000 punches in a row."

Ryu thought she might fall over. Five thousand punches? She'd end up breaking her hands if she tried to do all that! She sighed, and turned to go. Guy grabbed her shoulder.

"I'm not done yet,' he said. "After you're done with the punches, I want you to come back here and practice that technique some more. But after that, that technique is forbidden to you."

This snapped Ryu out of her sullen state. "What?! But-! Guy!!"

"It's forbidden! So stop whining and get to those punches!" he ordered.

Ryu gaped at him. "But-!"

"Ryu!"

She turned, frustration and anger boiling inside her, and went with Lee to try to do those punches. But she was more angry with herself then with Guy. Why hadn't she listened to TenTen? Lee looked at Ryu, the emotions running through her made clear through her eyes.

"Ryu," he said. She looked at him, frowning.

"Um… Just because Guy says that a technique is forbidden doesn't actually mean you can never use it again," he said. He tried not to fidget. He really wasn't supposed to be telling her this.

Ryu looked at him, puzzled. "What do you mean?" she asked him.

"Well, when Guy says something like that, he usually forbid the technique except under certain circumstances." he said.

"Like what?"

Lee shrugged. "It's different with every technique. You'll just have to see." He said.

Ryu groaned. "If I can see! Five thousand punches! How am I going to do all that! I'll end up breaking my hands!!" she moaned. Lee smiled at her.

"Guy-sensei said that you had to do five thousand punches. He didn't say if I coud help you or not."

Ryu smiled back at him. "Thanks Lee," she said. He smartly saluted her.

"Glad to help!"



**K**ba knocked on Ryu's door later that night.

"It's open!" he heard shout from within.

He walked in to find Ryu lying down on her couch. He noticed that she was starting to accumulate more furniture as she stayed in the village. He then noticed all the tape on her hands. He went over to her.

"What happened?" he asked. Akumaru whined.

"Oh, I got in trouble. Guy made me do five thousand punches." She said.

"In a row?!"

"In a row."

Akumaru scrambled onto the couch and started to lick Ryu's bandaged hands. There wasn't much room for him as Raikera was sprawled over her legs and Al was hanging over her stomach. Akumaru was able to maneuver himself so that he was around Ryu's shoulders. He whined once more and turned to lick her face. She giggled.

"I'm okay Akumaru. My hands just hurt." She said.

Kiba folded his arms. How badly had she hurt her hands? More importantly, what had Guy been thinking when he asked her to do that?

"What did you do?" he asked her. She sighed.

"Well, I decided that I was going to practice a little with swords, so Guy brought some wooden ones for me and TenTen to practice with. Then we all went for lunch, and when I came back, no one was around. So I thought I'd try something with one of the real swords." she explained, sounding pretty sorry.

"And let me guess, he caught you?" he said.

"Uh-huh." She let her head rest against the cushion.

Kiba stood up from his squat. "Have you been able to eat?" he asked her.

She shook her head. Kiba walked over to her fridge and found what looked like left-overs from yesterday. He got a plate out and made her some food. He then walked back over with it all. He picked up some rice with chopsticks.

"Open wide," he said, smiling. Ryu smiled back.

"Just like old times, huh?" she said jokingly.

"Yup. Old times…"

She giggled and then opened her mouth for him to feed her.


	12. Darn The Dog

**Author's Note: **Oh my gosh!! I haven't updated in forever!! I'm so sorry!!! School basically ate me with time and papers, and homework… Plus, I've been kind of lazy so… gets whacked on the head by Guy Bad Ryu! Bad, bad, Ryu! You don't get lazy! rubs head Ow… So, anyway, I'm hoping that I can get four icons put together for the anniversary. Hope you like them! I'll be doing a Super Special Author's Note for it too. Happy reading!!

-Ryu

**Darn the Dog**

**A** week had passed since the night in which Kiba had come to Ryu's rescue. Him feeding her that night had made her think a lot to when she first came to the village. She had been in the village for about two months. So much had happened since then it nearly made her head spin thinking about it all. After her month of training was done, that would make it three months.

This was what she was thinking about on an early Thursday morning. She wasn't exactly looking forward to training with Neji today; he had nearly kicked her ass too many times for her to count already. It had only been the first three days of training with him, and everything was still sore from their many bouts on Saturday. It seemed Neji didn't have a merciful bone in his body as he insisted on fighting round after round with her, pulling new moves out to finish every fight. A frustrated and angry Ryu was finding it hard not to scream at him what she really thought of him when she couldn't beat him.

To sum it up, she had been training with Neji for only three days, and she already wished he would drop dead right in front of her. But the slightly daily visits from Kiba brightened her mood. Since it seemed they wouldn't be able to do anything together until after the chunin exam, he had decided to pop in on her at odd times of the day, usually around breakfast or lunch time. So she wasn't too surprised when she answered her door to find a breathless and disheveled Kiba that morning.

"Hey, Kiba-"

"He's gone!!!" he suddenly wailed. Ryu blinked.

"Who? Who's gone?" she asked as he trudged in to sit on her couch.

He looked at her, his face full of anguish. "Akumaru!! I can't find him anywhere!! He's completely disappeared!!!" he explained to her, nearly panicking completely.

Ryu couldn't believe it. Akumaru was missing? How was that even possible when he went everywhere with Kiba? She'd have to ask these questions after she got a hyperventilating boy to calm down. She sat next to him.

"Okay, Kiba? Kiba, look at me," she said. He looked at her with wide eyes.

"What?!"

She sighed. "You freaking out isn't going to help us find Akumaru. Tell me exactly what happened." she said in an even and smooth voice.

Kiba took a couple of deep breaths to try to calm himself down.

"Okay! Um… Uh… We were walking over here a little bit earlier this morning through the intersection between the restaurant district and the shopping district. You know where that is, right?" he explained. She nodded her head and he continued.

"And-and for some reason there was a crowd this morning, and we- at least I thought it was we- went through the crowd. But when we-I got out, Akumaru wasn't there anymore!"

Kiba nearly started hyperventilating again as he recounted his frantic search for the puppy. Ryu then had to get him to calm back down as Raikera and Al came over to see what was wrong. Ryu stood up.

"Alright, Kiba, let's go look for him," she said. Kiba took another calming breath.

"Right," he said. He then thought of something. "but what about your training? Don't you have to be there?"

Ryu shrugged. "It's not like I'll be missing much. Neji's just using it as an excuse to beat the crap out of me anyway." she said as they headed for the door. Kiba blinked.

"He's what?"

But Ryu ignored him as she called Al over.

She kneeled in front o the orange tabby. "Al, do you think yo can help look for Akumaru too?" she asked him.

He rubbed her knees in a visual way of saying yes. On the way down the stairs, Ryu caught sight of Lee heading down the street.

"Lee!" she called to him. He saw her and ran over to her.

"Good morning, Ryu-kun; Kiba," he said, acknowledging the boy with a nod.

"Akumaru's gone missing," she said to him. "I'm not going to make it to training today so I can help Kiba look for him. Can you tell Neji?"

Lee nodded once more. "Yes, but I don't think he's going to be too happy when he hears that." he said.

Ryu rolled her eyes. "What else is new?" she said. They started to walk away and Lee started on his way to training.

He would never understand the tension between Neji and Ryu. They just didn't seem to get along at all. Ryu and Kiba headed to the intersection where Kiba had first lost Akumaru. The two teens started to search the intersection from one side to the other, checking under carts and on top of walls for the puppy. Ryu and Kiba questioned different vendors, but no one had seem to have seen a tan puppy with with black markings around his eyes. After an hour of searching the square, the two teens met up once again.

"Find anything?' asked a tired Ryu.

Kiba shook his head.

"I just don't know where he'd go," he said, despairing a little.

"Okay, um…" Ryu thought a moment. "If we split up, we'll cover more ground. You go to the restaurant district and I'll go to the shopping district since I know my way around there. We'll meet at the intersection with the building with the big fishes on top of it. Okay?"

Kiba nodded. It sounded like good idea. "Alright," he said.

The both of them went their separate ways. With Kiba's strong nose guiding him through the rich scents of the restaurants, he could catch faint traces of Akumaru. He followed these and questioned people along the way. He stopped in restaurants that he knew Akumaru liked to sniff in to make sure he hadn't wandered in. The stray thought of a vendor cooking dog meat gave him chills.

Ryu, however, did not have Kiba's nose, but had god hearing. She kept her ears open for Akumaru's barks and whines. She also questioned the shop keepers and vendors she knew that were always out at that time of morning. She went into pet stores to check if he had been found and dropped off there. But she wasn't able to find any leads.

She looked down alleys and under discarded wood piles. She looked up at a certain point and saw KOnkuro's legs dangling from a porch. _Oh yeah, they live around here…_ she thought.

"Konkuro!!" she shouted to him.

His legs gave a jerk and looked over the railing. His eyes landed on her.

"Oh, hey Ryu." he said.

"Have you seen Akumaru? He's missing." she asked. He shook his head.

"No, sorry. But I'll keep an eye out for him." He said to her.

"Thanks!"

She walked away and Konkuro looked inside as Temari asked him who he had been talking to. She walked around the district some more, stopping in at the crabby ramen cook's place to question him, and then moved on. She sighed as she came out of the district to the huge tiled building with the fish statues on top. She walked over to the building and leaned on it to wait for Kiba. She hoped he had had better luck than she had.

"Ryu!!!"

She looked to see Kiba come skidding out of the restaurant district. He was running, waving his arms in the air as he did. But what he was shouting wasn't what she had expected.

"Run!! Go! Go that way!!" he shouted to her while pointing behind her.

He ran to her, grabbing her hand as he went, and started pulling her with him. Ryu nearly fell flat on her face before catching up with his speed as he pulled.

"Ack! Kiba! Why are we running?!" she asked him, trying not to trip.

"Don't ask! Just keep running!!"

He ran harder as a series of barks and woofs were heard behind them. She looked back to see a pack of pursuing dogs behind them. She gave a small shriek, and ran as fast as she could. If she could outrun a raging tree guardian, hopefully she could outrun a pack of angry dogs.

Ξ

**A**bout twenty minutes and lots of close calls with sharp teeth later, both Ryu and Kiba were sitting on a dirt road, panting for all their worth. Ryu took a gulp of air before trying to speak.

"Wh… What was all that about?!" she gasped. Kiba shook his head.

"I don't know!! I got Akumaru's scent and followed it to an alley…"

He paused to get a bottle of water out of his pack. He took a couple gulps and then handed it to Ryu. She didn't really care about him drinking from it; it was water and she was thirsty! As she drank, he continued.

"And once I got into the alley, those dogs jumped me. So I got out there and started running. I don't know what I did, but they must of thought I was intruding on their territory or something…"

Ryu handed the water bottle back to him, half empty. She then flopped onto her back, her chest rising and falling like she had run a marathon. Kiba looked at her, a little worried, but his attention was drawn to the sliver of pink skin that had been revealed to be Ryu's stomach. Her stretch had lifted her shirt up a little. What the hek was on her skin?

His curiosity and concern overran his common sense and embarrassment as he bent forward to look more closely. Ryu looked up a little to see Kiba looking like he was going to kiss her stomach.

"Uh… Kiba?" she asked, a little freaked out. "What are you doing?"

He looked at her. "What are these things on your stomach?" he asked, poiting.

"Huh?"

Ryu sat up, and pulled her shirt up a little. That was when Kiba blushed. She looked at her stomach and part of her ribs, the bones nearly visible from her weight. There were little pink nods on her skin. She touched one.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed, pulling back at the sudden spike of pain that the motion brought forth.

They looked like hives, but hives didn't feel sore when you touched them. Kiba looked a little closer, still blushing a little. He looked at her.

"You said you were training with Neji, right?" he asked. She let her shirt fall back down.

"Yeah. What about it?" she asked.

That raised red flags to Kiba immediately. He recognized everything now from Hinata's fight with Neji. He wanted to rip that boy in half. Just what did he think he was trying to pull?!

"That's Neji's handiwork," he said, pointing to the pink nods. "His family's style targets the chakra system and blocks chakra points by hitting them. Neji's hit you so many times, your chakra points are completely blocked in some places. Didn't he tell you that?"

Ryu shook her head. "He didn't say a word. He just told me to dodge him as much as I could." she said. Kiba wanted to growl.

"Ugh! That idiot!" he nearly shouted. He looked back at her. "Ryu, you've got to take a break from Neji. If a lot of your chakra points get blocked, you could die."

"Die?!" Why the hell didn't that pale-eyed freak tell me then?!"

"I don't know!! Something's been wrong with him since the day I met him! He did this with Hinata too!"

Ryu groaned while flopping down again. Her dislike toward Neji flared into a hatred. Was he seriously trying to kill her? And if what Kiba said was true, how come she hadn't felt anything? Usually her body would start to freak out if something like that was happening. She was going to give Neji a piece of her mind the next time she saw him, if Guy wasn't there. If he wasn't, then she was envisioning several acts of violene she could choose from to get her point across to Neji. She sat up, and started to get up.

"Well, come on. The sooner we find Akumaru, the sooner I can go yell at Neji to stop using his chakra-blocker-thinger on me."

"Gentle Fist." Kiba interjected as he got up.

Ryu looked at him. "Gentle what?' she asked.

"Gentle Fist. It's the Hyuuga style of fighting." he said. "Hinata uses it too."

No sooner had he said that, Kiba wished he had shut his mouth. But it was common knowledge around here. At least it was to people who had grown up in Konoha, unlike Ryu. Even then, he had just given knowledge to Ryu on who might be her opponent in the final exam. _I'm an idiot..._ he thought guiltily.

That's when it made sense to Ryu. Neji hadn't said anything so it wouldn't give her an advantage to her on Hinata. But still... If his attacks could kill her, he should of warned her! She turned to look at Kiba, but her attention was drawn completely away from him.

"Ooooh!" she squealed. Kiba froze.

'What?! What?!" he said, trying to figure out what he had done.

Ryu started jumping up and down. "Look! Look!" she said happily.

He turned around to see what she was pointing at. It was a field of sunflowers. She ran pst him, and over to them. They towered over her as she looked at them, completely beaming at the bright flowers. She back at him.

"I haven't seen sunflowers since I came here!!" she said excitedly.

He walked over. "You like them?' he asked. She nodded.

"They're my favorite!"

"Oh..."

He stowed that fact away in his head for another time. Right now they needed to find Akumaru. A yowl was heard down the road. Ryu turned to see Al running down the road to her. A familiar pack of dogs was behind him.

"Oh crap!!"

Ryu ran forward, grabbed Al, and then ran with Kiba to get away from the dogs once again. They ran into the sunflower field to try and lose them, but it didn't seem to help. Ryu yelped as a snout came too close for comfort. They ran together for a couple more minutes before Kiba looked behind them to see only one dog chasing them. He stopped, skidded around Ryu, and stopped in time to deliver a punch to the dog's nose,

The dog let out a high-pitched yelp, and ran in the opposite direction. He looked back at the wheezing Ryu.

"Piece of cake!" he panted.

Growls were then heard around them. Ryu clung to Al, edging closer to Kiba. It sounded like they were surrounded. Al tried to climb into Ryu's shirt he was so scared. A couple of sharp barks sent Ryu to Kiba's side, almost hiding behind him. Her light quivering told him she was pretty scared.

"You work with dogs, right? " she whispered to him. "Can't you do something?!"

"Not exactly," he whispered back.

More barking was heard and then the dogs jumped out of the stalks in a circle around them. Al then did jump inside her shirt as two dogs jumped right in front of Ryu, separating her from Kiba. She sent him a fearful look. He tried to get into some kind of stance to ward off the dogs. He could at least try to protect Ryu; with her chakra the way it was, he wasn't sure if she could use her wind to get away.

The dogs growled on either sides, the ones in front of him salivating. Kiba tried to get as close to Ryu as he could. It looked like the dogs were getting ready to jump on them. Suddenly, a whirl of cloth and wood jumped right in front of them, clattering like teeth on ceramic. Ryu screamed, and fell over.

The creature whirled, sending the dogs running by the sudden intrusion of their attack. Kiba let out a held breath, recognizing the almost unrecognizable mass of wood, hair, and cloth. It was Konkuro's scarecrow. He looked to Ryu, and in seeing her limp form, ran over to her.

"Ryu?!"

She was completely and absolutely out cold.



**R**yu moaned as she came to. She saw Temari, Konkuro, and Kiba leaning in to see her face. Konkuro smiled.

"Hey there! Did ya' sleep good?"

She groaned as she sat up. She rubbed her head. "What happened?" she mumbled.

"You fainted," Kiba said in short explanation.

She heard a familiar bark, and Akumaru suddenly jumped into her lap. She laughed.

"Akumaru!" she said as she grabbed him. She gave him a small hug before the puppy started to lick her cheeks.

She looked at Konkuro. "When did you find him?" she asked.

"After you told me Akumaru was missing, I sent Crow out to look for him," he said, pointing at the heap of wood and cloth that was set on a stool in a corner.

Ryu felt exceptionally stupid then; she should have recognized the puppet from the preliminaries. Instead she had freaked out and fainted. Then again, considering the conditions, she was too surprised. Al leapt onto her lap as Akumaru jumped off to go to Kiba. The boy picked his companion up and the puppy scrambled onto his head.

Ryu looked around the apartment. "Where's Gaara?" she asked.

"He's still out training with Baki," said Temari. "Do you want something to drink? You don't look too good…"

Ryu said yes and the two girls started to talk. Konkuro motioned for Kiba to come with him onto the porch. Once out, he looked at him.

"Okay, I've saved your ass twice now; you owe me an explanation." The puppet master said. Kiba gave him a confused look.

"An explanation for what?"

"I saw you leaning over Ryu through Crow on the road," Konkuro said plainly. "What the hek were you doing?'

Kiba immediately blushed. "I-it's not what you think!!" he said quickly. "You see… Uh… Neji's training her right now and she's getting all these bruises from it on her chakra points. I was just taking a look at them."

Konkuro rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure you were…"

Kiba turned even redder. "It's true!!!" he insisted. "It's dangerous for her to be running around like that! She didn't even know about them until I saw them!!"

"Alright, alright! I rest my case!" Konkuro said, holding up his hands. "No need to flip out on me."

Kiba looked out across the view, his blush fading. "And even then, if I did feel that way about her, I would of told her by now," he said, sounding serious. "I'm just a friend."

Konkuro shrugged. "Well… You're lucky she's not my age. I would of jumped on her by now if she was," he said, taking a stick of gum out. Kiba looked at him, exasperated.

"Wha-?! Then what the hek's stopping you?!" he said, a little perturbed by this fact. "The way Temari chases Shikamaru around, what does age have to do with anything?"

The puppet master shrugged once more. "That's a different story… I'd feel like I was robbing the cradle or somethin'…" he said as he chewed.

The fact that a certain red head would want to murder him if he made any moves on Ryu kept him away too. He just didn't say anything to Kiba. And even then, Gaara wouldn't even admit it to himself, never mind to Ryu, that he liked her in a more affectionate way. If his instincts were correct that is, but he might be completely wrong… So Konkuro just chewed on his gum as Ryu said she had to go.

Kiba left with her, stewing over the strange conversation he had with Konkuro. What a strange day it had been for the both of them…


	13. Hookie

**Author's Note: **Helloooooooo from the Internets! XD Yay! I've finally gotten my mojo back for this story! I'm so happy! Anyway, enough of my banter! Happy reading!! – Ryu

**Hookie**

**N**eedless to say, Ryu did give Neji a piece of her mind the next time she saw him. His explanation was that he hadn't wanted to give away information on his cousin. Ryu's response to that was quite potent. So she came up with her own strategy against Neji's attacks on her charka network. She cloaked herself in a wind barrier; it seemed to be working.

The bruises from before were healing, and she hadn't found any new ones since she had started using the cloak. Even so, it couldn't protect her from Neji's attitude. She still wanted to strangle him. It had been a week since her escapade with Kiba to find Akumaru. That left only two weeks left to prepare for the finals, and Ryu was a little worried.

She hadn't been able to find any time to study on her own to strengthen her Sound techniques or do any research on spirits. Guy had packed her training schedule so tightly, the favors she had asked for in the beginning seemed pretty neglected. She was going to have to ask Guy for a few days off near the end, so the material would be fresh in her head. But if she lost any more time training with Neji and Lee, she didn't think she'd be prepared enough in that aspect. Her training with TenTen, however, was nearly finished.

She wasn't as good as TenTen, but she was a crack shot with her own technique, hitting the target rings every time she used it. It seemed her aim seemed to improve when she was hanging upside-down, much to Ryu's and TenTen's amusement. It was on a Monday night when Ryu went over to the small café down the street to pick up some coffee mixes; she was going to need them if her personal training plan was going to work. The radio was on when she went to pay for the mixes.

"…be prepared for a hot one tomorrow! Forecasters are expecting the temperature to go well into the 90's! In other news…"

The little blip she had caught was enough to make Ryu worry about the next day. She remembered the last time it had gotten that hot. She and Gaara had basically hidden in the library from the heat. Hey, that gave her an idea…



**T**he weatherman's prediction proved true as Ryu woke up at seven a.m. to hear the cicadas buzzing like it was one p.m. But she didn't mind, she had a plan. She got out of bed and packed her messenger bag. A towel, sunscreen, a bathing suit, a few bottles of water, and a couple of books were what she put into it. She dressed in white shorts, flip-flops, and a black tank top.

She tied the green ribbon around Al's neck and put Raikera on her leash. The cub had matured greatly since when she had first come to her. She was onto solid food now, and was almost rid of her habit of chewing on things. She had also grown, almost above Ryu's knees. She looked like a mini tiger now instead of an over-sized orange kitten with stripes.

The trio left at around eight, heading for the shopping district. They stopped at an apartment building, and Ryu walked up the stairs to Gaara's apartment. She knocked n the door, and was opened by Gaara. He looked a little surprised to see her.

"Oh, good morning, Ryu," he said. She gave him a great big smile.

"Good morning Gaara! Hey, are Temari and Konkuro here too?" she asked. He nodded.

He motioned for her to come in, and she did, followed by Raikera and Al. Temari was in the kitchen scraping a bowl of food into the trash, and a Konkuro without face-paint was half asleep on the couch. He certainly seemed to wake up as soon as she came in though. He sat up.

"Oh, hey Ryu. What's up?" he asked as he scratched the back of his head. He was painfully aware of the severe case of bed-head he had.

"I was wondering if you guys wanted to come with me to the lake," said Ryu. "It's supposed to be really hot today, so it's perfect to go swimming."

Konkuro didn't have a second thought. "A hot day and swimming? Count me in! Now I just have to find that beach ball!"

He got up and went to his room to get what he needed. Temari thought a moment, then looking a little concerned.

"But what about training?" she said. Ryu shrugged.

"I'm supposed to be with TenTen today, but she said we're pretty much done so I really don't have to go anymore," she said. Gaara folded his arms.

"What about Baki? I'm not exactly sure what he'd say about all this..." he said.

"Oh please!" Konkuro shouted from his room. "Like Baki's going to want to do anything outside of an air conditioner today! He'll probably be grateful you didn't show up!"

Gaara thought on this. Ryu looked hopefully at him. She smiled at him.

"Oh, come on Gaara! It'll be fun!" she said. Temari smiled.

"Okay, I'm coming," she said, giving in to the temptation. She stared to walk to her room. "I just have to get some stuff."

This left Ryu alone with Gaara to persuade him to come. He thought on what Baki's reaction would be if he skipped training. It didn't exactly alarm him, Baki had never been one to yell much. Then again, one wrong word last year would have made him kill him. And it wasn't like Baki wasn't teaching him anything new...

He looked at Ryu, her optimism and bright face a lot more enticing then training in the hot sun all day. He nodded.

"Alright, I'll come." he said.

"Yay!"

Ryu hugged him, glad that he was coming. He finally let himself smile. She let him go, and he walked over to his room.

"I just have to get some things," he said.

Konkuro came out of his room, a bag slung over his shoulder. He had flip-flops, a black t-shirt and swimming trunks on.

"Let's go!" he said. Ryu laughed.

She was glad someone else was eager to go as she was. TenTen had told her about the lake and said it was perfect or day trips. If there weren't too many visitors or if some crazy guy in a fright wig wasn't there. They were joined by Gaara and Temari, who both had bags. It seemed Gaara had done pretty much the same thing as Konkuro had.

So they left the apartment building and were on their way, following the directions TenTen had given her. There as actually a crowd for a day so hot, people wanting to get their errands done before the real heat set in. Gaara was looking around as he walked, and then suddenly stopped.

"Wait!! Stop!!!" he said frantically. They did and looked at him.

"What is it?" Ryu asked. He pointed in front of them.

"Baki's right there! If he sees me, he'll know what we're doing!!" he said, looking like he might panic. Ryu though this was weird; she had never seen Gaara panic before.

Konkuro looked a head. Yep, there was Baki, waiting in line to... get a coffee? Okay, that was weird... Who would want a coffee on a day like today?! He shook his head and then looked back the group. He thought a moment.

"I have an idea," he said. "Gaara, come here."

Baki was patiently waiting in line when he thought he saw Konkuro, Temari and that other girl who was in the final rounds. What was her name? Ryu Akihara or something like that... Konkuro seemed to be carrying something wrapped in bandages, a new puppet perhaps? The boy looked over at him and waved.

"Hey, Baki!" he said. He gave a little wave back.

"Where are you guys going?" he asked.

"To the lake!" the Akihara girl chirped.

"Alright, have fun..." he said to his students. The clerk was asking him what he wanted now.

The three teens quickly walked to the next street. Konkuro let out a breath. Temari laughed a little.

"I can't believe that actually worked," she said, smiling. She leaned in to the bandaged Gaara that Konkuro was holding up. "Are you okay in there?"

"Yes, but tell Konkuro to let me out. He's holding me upside-down!" Gaara's muffled voice came from inside the wrappings.

Konkuro quickly flipped Gaara over and started to shred the tape he had been covered in. Ryu smiled as his head emerged.

"So, what was it like being a mummy?" she asked him, joking. He smiled a little.

"Kind of stuffy," he said, which made her laugh. He stepped out of the wrappings and they continued on their way to the lake.

Once there, Ryu almost squealed. It was pretty! The water was clear and sparkling in the sun, and the lake, or rather a large pond, was fed by a small waterfall. The ground was stony but clean. There was a little sand, and Temari walked over to it and spread her beach towel out and put her umbrella up.

The doctors had told her to not do anything strenuous, and swimming fell under that category. She'd go in to cool off later. Ryu spread her towel next to hers. Temari looked at her.

"Hey, Ryu," she said. "I've got to get my suit on. Can you come with me and be a look-out?"

She seemed a little embarrassed to be asking this. Ryu shrugged.

"Sure, I was just about to ask you the same things," she said.

Both girls got up and found a secluded area behind some large boulders. Konkuro had heard this and watched them go. His sister saw him, and frowned at him, basically telling him if he tried to peek at Ryu, she'd kill him. He folded his arms; like he'd ever do that. Gaara sat down on the pebbly ground, and tugged his shirt off.

He didn't plan on going in the water, but at least he'd be cooler this way. Konkuro, however, had wasted no time on jumping in, and was already exploring different places of the pool to find a deep enough place to dive. He didn't feel like braining himself today. He finally found a spot with a peaked boulder near it that was pretty deep, it was deeper than his own height by a few feet. He came up from an in-water dive to see both girls come out in their swimsuits.

He whistled at them.

"Well, gee1 Look at these pretty things!" he shouted to them.

Temari put her hands on her hips, making a face at him. She had brought her bikini, since she knew no one was going to be around to make her feel embarrassed about it. It was white with black outlines. Ryu had just laughed at his fake catcall. She had brought her red tankini with the yellow hummingbird on the tank top.

Al had curled up on Temari's towel, and Raikera had wriggled out of her leash to go splashing in the water after Konkuro. The tiger cub seemed perfectly at home in the shallows. Temari sat down, Al moving for her, and started to dig around in her bag. She had brought a book to read while she was here. Gaara looked at her.

"Um… Temari?" he said. She looked at him. "Are you sure you should be wearing that? You seem awfully… exposed."

Temari blinked. "Oh… Well, this is what some girls wear to go swimming, Gaara, so it's okay," she said. Her younger brother shrugged.

That's when Temari thought of something. Did Gaara know how to swim? She didn't even remember him coming to the beach with them as a family, or as much as a family they had been at the time. Ryu kneeled next to Gaara.

"Hey, Gaara," she said, smiling. "Wanna come in the water with me?"

Temari waited. She had noticed that he couldn't really say no to Ryu. He thought a moment.

"Okay," he said. She flashed him a bright smile, and they both got up.

Ryu air slid to the water, and dropped herself in.

"Wheee!"

She hit the water, and then came up sputtering. "Gah! It's cold!!" she shivered.

Gaara stopped at the water's edge and stuck a foot in. He let that foot get wet and then he walked in up to his ankles. He slowly waded in up to his knees, and then saw Konkuro sneaking up behind Ryu, who was in up to her chest already. He suddenly jumped up, grabbed Ryu by the shoulders, and brought her under. A small squeak came from the suddenly submerged girl, and Gaara just stood there for a second.

But when Konkuro kept her under for a small space of time, he became a little uneasy. His first impulse was to wrap some sand around him and get him away from her, but then he remembered he had left his gourd at home. Wait a second, then what the hek was he standing on then?!

He was just about to use the sand underneath his feet when bubbles started to froth around Konkuro and he was flung from where he was. Ryu burst out of the water, gasping and angry, her eyes purple.

"KONKURO!!" she raged. "What is wrong with you?! I can't hold my breath for that long!!"

Konkuro just laughed, proud of his joke. Ryu brought an arm back and created a small wave, then strengthened it with her wind. A mini tsunami overtook Konkuro who struggled to swim away from it. It swamped him, which gave cause for her to laugh at him as he was tossed up on the boulder. Konkuro looked like he might yell at her, but then laughed as well.

Gaara was a little confused; weren't they trying to hurt each other? Ryu turned to him, smiling.

"Gaara, come on!" she said. "It's fun over here!"

Konkuro dove from the rock, and grabbed her again, making her shriek.

"Yeah! You can help me dunk her!" he said wickedly.

Ryu slipped out of his grasp, and pushed him under and up as quickly as she could. He came up sputtering. She grinned.

"Or you can help me teach your brother a thing or two!"

Gaara smiled as he suddenly got it. It was plat. Okay, he could do that. Or he hoped he could. He waded in farter and summoned some sand.

He tripped Konkuro with the shifting ground, and laughed after he went under. Ryu's laughter bubbled out of her as he came back up. Konkuro splashed her in retaliation, and she did the same thing back. Gaara swam in closer and joined in, a little nervous and feeling rather empty at doing this. Temari looked up from her book to see the squealing, laughing, and smiling trio.

She smiled as she saw Gaara trying to do his best. She was glad he was trying, knowing social gatherings, no matter how small, were a challenge for him. He had been so emotionless for so long. Though it seemed Ryu and his other friends were softening him. Al stretched across her legs, and she scratched his head.

He was a sweet cat. Raikera suddenly came splashing over to the teens, grabbing hold of Konkuro's arm with large paws and gentle jaws. She jumped on top of him, and used him to jump onto the rock. The tiger cub, once on the rock, turned around and jumped back in, splashing them all. Konkuro thought this was a good idea, and scrambled into the rock. While Raikera proved her natural swimming skills, he jumped and succeeded in a cannonball.

Ryu squealed as the cold water suddenly splashed her entirely. Gaara wanted to laugh, but then thought it better not to. She then got herself out of the water by using her wind an flew onto the rock. Konkuro came up just in time to hear Ryu saying something.

"Hey, Konkuro! Bet I can jump farther then you!" she challenged.

The boy grinned. "Oh yeah?" He clambered back onto the rock.

Ryu smiled at him, and ran off the boulder. She then air slid off of it, the surge propelling her into the middle of the lake. She stuck her tongue out and wiggled her fingers at him before letting herself drop into the water. Konkuro folded his arms stubbornly.

"That's cheating!" he yelled.

"I did say I was going to jump farther then you could! And I did! So there!"

"Yeah, whatever…" he mumbled.

He took a running jump off of the boulder and nearly met Ryu's air slide jump. He came up, shaking the water from his hair. He looked at his younger brother.

"Hey, Gaara, you want to give it a try?" he asked him.

"Give what a try?" Gaara said, a little puzzled.

"Jumping from the rock. It's fun."

Gaara looked from him to the rock. What was the big deal about jumping from a rock? Though he had noticed that both Konkuro and Ryu were having fun with it, and he was curious. He shrugged.

"I'll try,' he said. Konkuro smiled.

"Great! Follow me!"

They swam over to the rock, and Gaara looked up at it. He was strong, but he didn't think he could reach up to the plateau of the rock. Konkuro looked at him.

"Do you want a boost?" he asked.

He double-took his own question. Had he just offered Gaara help? The boy blinked at him. He couldn't really believe it either.

"Um… Sure," he said.

"Okay," Konkuro said, getting ready. "I'm going to grab you by your knees, alright? So don't freak out on me."

Gaara shook his head. "I won't."

Konkuro went under the water, and took hold of his knees. Gaara had to stop himself from 'freaking out', just as his older brother had warned him when he suddenly found himself going up. Konkuro was holding him up, and Gaara quickly grabbed hold of the boulder. He didn't know Konkuro could do this! From what he knew, his brother didn't have much strength, that was why he worked with Crow so much.

He was able to pull himself up onto the rock, and Konkuro joined him. Temari smiled from where she sat. She had just seen her brothers do something together besides train. She was glad. Ryu air slid over and stood on the rock with them to watch.

Gaara stepped to the edge and looked over. The water suddenly seemed intimidating from where he stood. He looked back at his brother and Ryu. She smiled at him, and gave him a thumbs-up. He gave her a small smile in return, and looked back at the water. He was just about to jump in when Konkuro suddenly said, "Wait!"

He paused. "What?"

He came over. "Hold your nose," he instructed, showing him. "Like this."

"Why?"

"So you don't get water up your nose," he explained.

Gaara shrugged and held his nose and breath. He then jumped. For a brief moment he was terrified, but then felt the sensation of flying. Oh, so this was why it was considered fun. He then hit the water and bobbed back up. He came up gasping. He then smiled at his brother and friend.

"That was… fun!" he said, sounding surprised.

"Woo-hoo!" Ryu shouted. She then jumped in after him, followed by Konkuro.

The trio continued to hoot and laugh as the day went on. Temari eventually joined them even though she couldn't do everything they could. The day was ended with all four of them sitting on their towels, watching the sky turn orange. Ryu sighed, satisfied with her day. It had been fun. They packed up, and started for the village.

All of them were quietly happy as they walked down the streets. Gaara offered to walk her home, and she accepted. Temari and Konkuro went the way back to their apartment, the sister trying to stop the brother from blurting anything out. His opinions would only make things awkward. Both teens found themselves silent as they walked, their romp in the lake leaving them pleasantly tired.

Ryu liked the companionable silence. As they neared her apartment, she thought she saw Kiba walking down the street with Akumaru. Akumaru perked up when he saw Ryu, but then stopped when he saw Gaara. This abruptly got Kiba's attention. Why were Ryu and Gaara alone together, and after dark as well?

Something growled inside Kiba as he got closer. He had been on his way to see her; how long had she been out with Gaara? Wasn't she supposed to be training with Guy? Jealousy stirred violently in the boy as he held his composure. Ryu saw him, and waved, smiling brightly. Akumaru stayed behind Kiba as she walked over to him.

"Hey," she said. "What's up?"

"Well, I was coming over to see you." he said. He tried not to growl at Gaara as he came closer behind Ryu.

"Oh really? Cool, I can let you in then."

The three of them walked over to her porch. Ryu couldn't help but sense the stiff silence between Gaara and Kiba. Something was definitely off with Kiba. He felt… angry. Why? Even Gaara could feel the friction.

It puzzled him as to why Kiba's eyes had hardened so much when he saw him. But then again, he should probably be used to this by now. He sighed inwardly; he was still hated and feared by a number of people. Why should Kiba be any different? Though he noticed the boy's anger was different then what he was used to.

Ryu opened the door. She looked at Gaara.

"Do you want to come in?" she asked. He shook his head.

"No thank you. I've got to get to the apartment." he said.

"Okay. Thanks for walking me home."

"You're welcome." He said to her. He nodded at Kiba and then left.

Kiba shoved his hands in his opckts, and followed Ryu inside, pouting. What the hell! Why had Gaara walked her home?! He could do that, couldn't he?! Kiba felt like kicking something but another part of him was saying, "Why exactly are you angry again?"

"Why did Gaara walk you home?" he said, letting some of his anger out.

Ryu looked back at him as she put her things down. "Oh, we went out to the lake today, and he wanted to walk me home." She said. She suddenly felt guilty that she hadn't thought of Kiba.

Kiba folded his arms. "Don't you have training? Like me?" he asked her bluntly.

"Um… TenTen said we're basically finished so it was okay for me not to come. You had training today, right?" she said. The air felt prickly. Where was this going?

The boy finally groaned. "Ryu, I told you to be careful around him! You can't just go running off with him with no warning!"

Ryu put her hands on her hips. "I wasn't along with him, if that's what you're worried about. Temari and Konkuro came with us." She said. Kiba rolled his eyes.

"Oh, as if that would actually make a difference," he said sarcastically.

Ryu looked at him, confused. "What? Kiba, what is with you?" she asked. Her eyes then widened. "Oh! This about that demon things, isn't it?!"

Kiba sighed heavily, not wanting to admit it. They had had this conversation before. Ryu frowned at him.

"That's it, isn't it?! You're freaking out because Gaara has Shukaku in him!"

Why shouldn't I freak out?!" Kiba finally exploded. "He's dangerous! You shouldn't be around him so much!"

Ryu's eyes sparked. "Ugh, I told you before! Just because someone has a demon inside them, doesn't mean they're dangerous!!"

"I know that! Gaara's different though! Ryu, he's not right! There's something wrong with him, even Akumaru can feel it!" he said, pointing at the puppy.

Akumaru barked as he sat with Raikera and Al. _Don't you DARE get me involved in this!! _he snapped at him. _You're over-reacting you jealous idiot! _

"Kiba, you're over-reacting!" Ryu said, echoing Akumaru even though she hadn't understood what he had just said. "Gaara isn't different, and there is nothing wrong with him!"

"Yes, there is! Ryu, you haven't see what he can do! The guy's out of his freakin' mind!!" Kiba shouted.

He hadn't meant to but he was yelling now. Ryu's eyes turned purple.

"He is NOT out of his mind!!!" she shouted back. "How do you think you'd feel if you had a demon shoved inside you, huh?!"

"I sure as hell wouldn't act like him!!"

"How would you know?! You don't have a clue what it's like!!"

"I don't NEED a clue!! Gaara's killed people by the dozens! That means he's crazy and dangerous!!"

"Kiba, you know as well as everyone that he's changed since then!

"Oh yeah? _He _may have changed but what about that thing inside of him? What if it goes crazy, huh? What if it goes crazy, and you're there with him? What will you do then?"

Ryu's eyes had turned yellow by then. Kiba was panting. The air vibrated with angry energy.

"I know how to handle myself, Kiba! I didn't study with Dr. Masuda for three years for nothing!!" she said curtly.

"That doesn't matter! You haven't seen Gaara's demon form; you don't know what he's capable of!!" Kiba insisted. "Ryu, why don't you get it?! He's too dangerous!!"

"Kiba!! Are you telling me that if a person has an unstable demon inside them, they're too dangerous to be around?' Ryu suddenly asked him, catching him offguard. Her eyes were fierce as she asked this.

He paused before answering. Something inside was screaming for him not to answer, but he ignored it.

"Yes," he said, certain.

Ryu suddenly seemed still. She closed her eyes and took a breath. When she opened her eyes, they were brown. He stared at her; the air felt broken. She looked away from him.

"Get out," she said, barely audible.

Kiba blinked. "What?"

"I said get out!!" she suddenly shouted. He jumped

Her eyes turned a purple and yellow at the same time, the colors mixing with hints of red. "Kiba Inuzuka, get out!! GET OUT!! GET OUT!!"

A small amount of rage burst into him.

"FINE!" he shouted back. "I will!"

"JUST SHUT-UP!!!" she screamed ferociously. "AND GET THE HELL OUT!!!"

Kiba and Akumaru quickly got out of the apartment, Ryu slamming the door behind them. She stood there, a throbbing hand on the door. Raikera shivered next to a wall, and Al took a step toward her.

"Raow?" he questioned.

Something dripped on the floor. The orange tabby looked underneath her, and saw that she was crying. Hot tears were sliding down her cheeks as she gritted her teeth. She didn't want to cry; she hated crying. But her heart ached too much.

It hurt so much… She lied down her bed and curled around the covers, pulling them around her. She couldn't stop crying… Everything hurt…


	14. How Hard It Is To Say Sorry

**Author's Note: **Whew! Who would have seen that coming? Kiba and Ryu actually had a fight! Yikes! So… How long do you think it will take for them to make up? Let's find out, shall we? Anyway, I hope I'll be able to update more… Happy Reading!

Ryu

**How Hard It Is To Say Sorry**

**A** few days passed after the fight between Ryu and Kiba. Neither one had said a word to another. TenTen, Lee, Neji, and Guy could tell something was wrong as Ryu stopped talking as much as she used too. She just showed up to training and went home by herself. Kurenai, Hinata, and Shino were dumbfounded at finding Kiba equally as inactive as Ryu.

He didn't even want to fight extra rounds with anyone. He wasn't talking like he usually did either. This odd behavior grated on Hinata's fragile nerves as she nervously paced around her room after a day of training. Kiba had become so listless. At first she thought he might have just gotten sick, but now it seemed more serious then that.

She was worried. She wanted to talk to someone, but wasn't exactly sure who to ask about him. She took a breath and decided to ask her father. She walked around the house and bit her lip the entire way to the training room. She poked her head in to see her father working with her younger sister. Her heart started raving; she didn't think she could do this. Hizashi finally saw her.

"Oh, Hinata," he said. She gulped when he said her name. "What is it?"

"Uh... Um... "She bit her lip, and suddenly lost nerve."Never mind! I'll tell you later!!"

She quickly slammed the sliding door and took off down the hall. Neji heard the quick patter of feet and stopped to see Hinata run past him. He watched her turn the corner and keep on running. What happened? He looked down the hall to see if anyone was chasing her, mainly her father.

No, it wasn't that. What, was everyone in the final rounds losing their minds? Normally, Neji wouldn't be concerned about something like this but he was curious. He also knew where Hinata would be when she freaked out like.

There were three gardens in the Hyuuga house. One was for everyone to enjoy, one was a zen garden in which the main branch meditate and trained. and the other was Hinata's. It was a forgotten plot in the area of the house that he had come upon accidentally some time ago. He had glimpsed Hinata working with the soil, planting flowers and herbs. It seemed she had taken the forgotten garden and turned it into a psychological haven for herself; somewhere she could go and breathe easily.

He gently opened the sliding door so that she wouldn't hear it and looked in on her. She was sitting on a boulder mostly covered in moss, and was agitatedly picking one of her flowers apart. He knew she wouldn't be doing that unless something was severely bothering her. He stepped into the garden, and quietly walked over to her so he wouldn't spook her. She seemed so absorbed in her worry that she didn't even notice him.

He cleared his throat. Hinata nearly fell off the rock, the noise scared her so badly. She looked up at him, panicked. Her eyes went wide.

"O-oh! N-Neji!" she struggled to say. Neji tried to soften his face for her; he knew he severely frightened her.

"Hello, Lady Hinata," he said as he sat on the rock next to her.

Hinata thought she might faint. He cocked his head at her.

"I couldn't help but notice that you're a little... worried. Is everything okay?" he asked her.

Hinata blinked. She had been looking for someone to talk to but she hadn't been expecting this. Actually, Neji was the last person she had thought who would be concerned about her. She took a breath and got back up on the boulder.

"Um…' She started to form the sentences in her mind. "I've been worried… about Kiba. He's… not acting like himself."

Neji looked down at the ground. "The Inuzuka boy, right?"

She nodded. He looked back at her. "He's friends with Ryu, yes?"

Hinata nodded once more. "Yes. He usually likes to go see her…" she said. She then thought a moment. "But… I don't think he's gone over in a while…"

"Really?" Neji looked up at the sky. "Ryu hasn't been acting quite like herself either…"

He started to connect the dots in his head around the same time Hinata was. If Kiba was acting strangely, and he was friends with Ryu, and _she_ was acting strangely too… Hinata looked concernedly at him.

"Do you think something happened?" she asked.

Neji looked thoughtful. "Maybe," he said. He got up from the rock and walked out the garden.



**N**eji quietly watched Ryu the next day at training. Lee was training with her that day, and as usual, she was trying to improve her punches. He wanted to tell her to give up already on trying to improve her arm strength. It just wasn't going to happen until she gained weight. Ryu had stayed skinny as the day she arrived, which was ninety-eight pounds at five feet, one inch.

Needless to say, she was exactly built to be able to knock someone out with her fists. In a way, he was glad that she had her ninjutsu to fall back on. If she didn't, Ryu wouldn't be a ninja at all. She was still unnaturally quiet as she went about training. Neji and TenTen were working together. He noticed TenTen was visibly agitated by Ryu's silence. She sighed as she threw a kunai knife into the ground.

"Ooh! This is so IT!" she grumbled. She turned to see Ryu and Lee sparring.

"Ryu!!" she shouted to her.

Ryu took Lee down with a swift kick and turned to her. "Yeah?"

"You're coming with us to lunch!!"

"I am?"

"Yes, you are!"

Ryu didn't have time to protest more as Lee quickly pounced on her. Whether this was to keep her from responding or because he wanted to keep practicing wasn't very clear. Lunch seemed to happen very quickly and TenTen ordered all of them over to Ichiraku's, a place where they could all agree on what to eat. Ryu sat on the far left and TenTen quickly sat beside her to interrogate her. Lee chose to sit in the middle, and Neji decided to eat off to the side.

He would just listen and volunteer the information when it seemed necessary. As soon as the ramen was put down, and Ryu started to eat, TenTen started to question her.

"So, Ryu, how've you been?" she asked, the question completely normal. Even though she had asked it that morning.

Ryu shrugged. "Can't complain," she said as she chewed.

TenTen waited for Ryu to elaborate like she usually would, but the only sound was slurping. She frowned.

"Alright, that's it!" She slammed a hand down on the counter, making everyone jump.

"You've been acting weird ever since that day off! Now, you're going to tell me what's wrong, or so help me, Ryu, I'll go crazy!!!" TenTen finally exploded, jabbing at Ryu with her chopsticks with every word.

The girl was backed up against the wall to avoid the eating utensils.

"Nothing is wrong, TenTen!" she said as she gingerly prodded the chopsticks away.

"Then why are you acting so weird?!"

"I'm not acting weird!!"

"Yes, you are!" Lee jumped in. "You keep looking off into the distance and sighing. Are you sick?"

Ryu blinked, exasperated. Had they been this worried all along?

"No,"

"Is Al sick?" asked TenTen.

Ryu shook her head. "No,"

"Is Raikera sick?"

"No! No one is sick!!" she said, slightly appalled. "I'll tell you what's wrong! What's wrong is that my friends won't let me eat my freakin' lunch! That's what's wrong!"

She quickly turned around and busied herself with eating. TenTen and Lee turned to their own food, their efforts proved fruitless by Ryu's waiting stomach. Neji took a sip from his drink.

"Ryu and Kiba had a fight," he said, letting sentence drop like it was nothing.

There was a moment of dead silence broken by Ryu's choked coughing. She whirled on Neji in an instant after that.

"Where the hell did you hear that?!?!" she demanded, her eyes turning a fierce shade of purple accompanied by yellow sparks.

TenTen and lee quickly leaned out of the way of the girl's fiery gaze. Neji calmly looked back at her.

"From Hinata. Apparently, Kiba hasn't been himself lately…" he said. He then started to eat once again.

Ryu sat there for a moment, looking at him. She then turned back to her food and sat still. TenTen and Lee gingerly went back to their food. TenTen watched Ryu for a while, who wasn't eating anymore. Ryu then got up from her stool, put hr money on the counter, and turned to TenTen.

"Can you tell Guy I went home early to train on my own?" she asked her.

"Uh… Sure," she said.

Ryu then walked away in the direction of her apartment. TenTen looked back at the quiet Neji. She wanted to yell at him, but knew that would be useless. Still, couldn't he have been a little gentler? If Ryu and Kiba had a fight, it must have been about something important.

Ryu and Kiba had been friends since she had set foot in the village, the fight couldn't have been about nothing. She wanted to talk to Ryu about it, but she knew she shoulder leave her alone since that seemed to be what she wanted. Ryu walked silently to her apartment, her eyes still purple. _Stupid, stupid Neji!! _she fumed inside her head. _Why did he have to find out?! Why couldn't it have been TenTen or Lee? Of course it had to be the most heartless person I know!!_

Ryu wanted to kick every stand she saw. She wanted to ring Neji's neck. She wanted… She anted Kiba. She shook her vigorously. _NO! No! No! _she thought. _You can't think about him right now!! You have to train!! You can deal with stupid idiot later!!_

She sighed as she walked into her apartment. Al and Raikera greeted her with growls and meows. She knelt down to pet them, and walked over to her cluttered table. It was covered in books, papers, chopsticks, and empty instant ramen cups. She hadn't had time to cook actual food so she had resorted to easily made store bought stuff.

She had been too busy studying to do anything else. If she was going to be ready for the final exam, she would have to brush up on her old techniques. She had been finding it hard to concentrate though. Her mind kept wandering to Kiba and the fight. She didn't know what to think anymore about him.

She wanted to forgive him, but she couldn't since he hadn't said a word to her since that night. She just wished he could understand, or at least take the time to try… He just didn't see this sort of thing from her point of view. Then again, she hadn't really given him a chance either. She hadn't told him anything about her past experience with other spirit mediums and, more importantly, about Inu.

But if they were just going to argue about Gaara, which she thought was very stupid, then how could she explain things. All this along with mixed feelings whirled in her head while she tried to study. She blinked at the pages she had just turned. She didn't remember one thing about what she had just read. Her head hit the book with a THUMP!

Al watched his mistress, concerned. Raikera was equally concerned, but was confused. After all, she had only been in the world for three months, how could she understand what was going? She just knew that Ryu had been upset ever since that night when the boy that smelled like a wolf had yelled and she had yelled back. Al, who had been in the world longer then Raikera, had understood completely. He also knew what the problem was.

If only Ryu and Kiba could just meet up, he was sure that they could work something out. The boy had been around as long as he had, so he couldn't really imagine, or imagine as much as a cat could, Ryu without Kiba and vice versa. The orange tabby nudged Raikera, saying through touch, _I'll be back. _A slightly alarmed Raikera followed him to the window, growling lowly. _Where are you going? Don't leave me with her like this!! I don't know what to do!!!_

Al hopped onto the window sill and popped the screen open. _I'm gong to see Akumaru. I won't be long. Just let her pet you and rub her knees, that should make her feel better. _He jumped out the window, and Raikera plopped onto the floor, pouting. She didn't want to be stuck with Ryu all alone, not with her like this. Al quickly went through the streets and alleys.

He had been born in Konoha, and knew every inch of it. He also knew where the Inuzuka house was as well. He just hoped Akumaru was there. Akumaru was there, and so was Kiba, who was trying to escape his berating partner and guilty feelings.

_YOU!! YOU!!! You're so stupid!!! _Akumaru threw at him. _Did you have to over-react? That was the dumbest argument I've ever heard!!_

Kiba growled. "Will you leave me alone?" he mumbled unhappily.

_No! All because you got jealous, you might have just lost one of your best friends!_

"I didn't lose her!" he said quickly. He wasn't willing to admit that he might have messed up completely with Ryu.

It had been an hour after the argument that he had wanted to run back to her apartment and apologize. But he wasn't sure what to say to her. He had completely bad-mouthed one of her friends, and that wasn't so easy to forgive. He was also aware of how jealous he had gotten of Gaara. He wasn't even sure where all that feeling had come from, he'd never been so jealous in his life.

He felt stupid and guilty all at the same time. He wasn't exactly prepared to face Ryu yet, even though his conscience was begging him to apologize. He wanted to say he was sorry, but didn't want to say directly to Ryu. What if she got mad at him again, like she had at the end? He had never heard Ryu swear in the time he had known her, so he knew he had gotten her angry.

He was just too confused and hesitant to go see her, but Akumaru wouldn't have it. The puppy refused to cooperate with him until he apologized to her. He also wouldn't stop yelling at him. Apparently, Akumaru was very upset over the entire thing and wanted more than anything to see Ryu again.

_Well, you are going to lose her if you don't do something!!_ Akumaru continued. _Ooh, how come you have to be so possessive?! Ryu can have other friends too you know!!_

"Ugh, I know that Akumaru! Now will you please leave me alone? If all you're going to do is bother me about Ryu, then go pout somewhere else!!" Kiba finally snapped at him.

The puppy gave him a broiling look and then sulked out the back door.

_Fine, I will_, he said half-heartedly.

The unhappy pup plopped himself down in the backyard, frowning as much as he could. Stupid Kiba and his stupid ideas and stupid, stupid, stupid… Why couldn't he just accept that Ryu liked Gaara and that was that? Sure, he used to be a psycho homicidal maniac, but he was different now, right? Hek, he saved the person he tried to kill once so he must have changed. Akumaru laid his head down on his paws.

He then looked up as he heard a rustling in the bushes. An orange tabby cat came through and looked around the yard. The puppy was about to jump up and start chasing it when he saw that it was Al.

_Hey! _The cat meowed to him as he bounded over. _I've got an idea to stop this nonsense if you want to listen!!_



**A**l came to find Ryu asleep on her books. She had studied herself to sleep. So he had let her sleep a few hours before pouncing on her. Raikera helped him in getting their mistress active again, though she didn't know exactly why they were doing this. Until Al told her that is.

It had taken a little encouragement, but Ryu finally let herself be led out by her pets. They obviously wanted out for some reason or another. So she tied Al's ribbon around his neck and put Raikera on her leash and went out the door. Ryu tried to let she relax as they walked around. Konoha at dusk was fairly calming, especially with the final rounds coming up.

It seemed that the night before hand was seen as a festival and a lot of the local people and businesses were gearing up for it. Strings of lanterns were already hung everywhere and glowed lightly from the sunset. She sighed as she let her mind wander, letting go of all her worries about studying, training, and Kiba. Al seemed to be having fun, leading her and Raikera around. He seemed to be leading the in the direction of the clock tower, where she had first met…

_Dang it,_ she thought as it reminded her of Kiba. She shook her head. The clock tower square had a fountain if she remembered right. So, they continued to walk. At about the same time, Akumaru was leading a leisurely walking Kiba around to the clock tower as well.

He had been a little pensive, but had decided to try and relax in one of his favorite hobbies. If you could call walking a hobby that is. When they got to the square, the clock was happily chiming away at seven-thirty. Akumaru jumped onto the fountain's rim to walk around. Kiba looked around at the crowd, and thought he saw a distorted reflection in the fountain's stream.

He shrugged, and sat on the low wall to watch the crowd go by. He took in a deep breath, and was startled by a familiar scent. Fresh air and the teasing scent of something that couldn't be named: Ryu. He stood up and looked around, startling Akumaru. The dog wanted to swat himself on the head; he had forgotten about Kiba's nose.

The boy started to walk around the fountain, but quickly halted when he saw Raikera on her leash. He peeked around a little more and saw Ryu leaning against one of the higher walls, looking up at the changing sky. Ryu was letting her mind wander around the clouds when she thought she felt eyes on her. She quickly looked and thought she saw a flash of something. Curious, she walked forward.

If only she knew that Kiba nearly fell over trying to get away from her view. He was getting out of here; the sooner the better! He quickly started to circle the other side of the fountain, Akumaru following behind him. Al looked to the other side of the fountain, and saw Kiba going in the opposite direction Ryu was. The cat thought quickly.

Al suddenly dashed around Ryu's legs and ran to the other side, dragging Raikera's leash with him. It quickly wrapped around one of Ryu's ankles, and before she knew it, she was being tugged on to go in the other direction.

"Ah! Ah!" she squeaked, hopping on one foot as she was being dragged to the other side, right where Kiba was.

He suddenly came out of nowhere, walking quickly and looking behind him as if he was being followed. Akumaru dove between his legs, making him lose his balance.

"Agh!!"

"EEK!" Ryu squealed as they both promptly fell on top of each other.

Raikera and Al quickly tangled them together using the leash, Akumaru barking incoherently to add to the confusion. Ryu tried to wiggle out of the leash while Kiba, to his embarrassment, was trying to entangle himself from Ryu's long legs. They finally looked at face to face, and looked at each other for a moment. Kiba blushed the tiniest bit, and looked down at the tangled leash. He looked up at her.

"Um… Do you want some help?" he asked.

She nodded. "That would be appreciated," she said.

He started to carefully unwind the leash from her legs, his own coming free once they weren't part of the mad human knot they had accidentally formed. He got up, and offered Ryu his hand to help her up. She looked at it for a moment and then took it. She brushed herself off. They looked at each other once more.

Kiba was biting the inside of his cheek, his conscience screaming at him to say something. Ryu didn't know what to say to him; why did she suddenly feel so guilty?

"Um…" Kiba unsurely let out, but Ryu quickly turned around.

"I have to go. Thanks for helping," she said quickly.

She started to walk away, and Kiba thought he felt something rip inside of him. Akumaru looked obstinately from one teen to the other, and then bit him right on the leg.

"OW!!! RYU, I'M SORRY!!!" Kiba blurted out from the sudden pain.

Ryu spun around on one heel. "What?!"

"I said… I said I was sorry!!" He sighed, and then looked at her, his eyes showing his feelings of remorse.

"I… I never should have said anything. You choose your friends, not me. And I'm sorry I said those things… I'm pretty much sorry for everything…"

Kiba bit his lip. "Do you forgive me?"

Ryu stood there, looking at him. There was no emotion on her face at all. Kiba waited, his heart anxious. She looked away and then sighed. She then looked at him again, looking weary and defeated.

"Do you want to get something to eat?" she asked him.

He blinked. "Uh… Sure," he said.

She started to walk away once more and he caught up to her. They silently walked to the restaurant district. Akumaru panted happily as they walk, glad of his accomplishment. Ryu stopped to investigate a small dumpling stand, and she jerked a thumb at it.

"What do you think of here?" she asked.

"Sure, I love dumplings," said Kiba.

They both took a seat and ordered dumplings with some red bean soup. The air between them still felt a little uneven, and Kiba still felt guilty. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Um… So, are you sure you forgive me?" he asked, his voice quiet.

She looked at him, a little questioningly. It then changed to being sheepish, a small smile peeking out from her face.

"Yeah, I forgive you." she said. "But…"

Kiba held his breath.

"It was kind of my fault the fight happened," she said, not exactly looking at him. "I didn't really tell you anything about me or my past experience with spirits and spirit mediums-"

"Whoa, whoa! Wait a second!!" Kiba cut in. He pointed a finger at her. "I was the one who flipped out, not you. So I don't want to hear anything out of you about being sorry."

Ryu smiled. "Well, that is kind of true, but still. I think you need to know why I feel the way I do about these kinds of things."

The cook put down the dumplings and the red bean soup. He smiled kindly at them, and they smiled back. Ryu rummaged for her wallet and opened it. She then took out the picture of her, Dr. Masuda, and Inu, and handed it to him. Kiba studied it, his dumpling stick in the air between the plate and his mouth. Ryu pointed at Inu.

"That right there is why I feel so strongly about spirits," she said. "Inu's half human and half demon because of a demon dog inside of him. But he's the sweetest little kid I've ever met, and people have always freaked out when they meet him because of his appearance,"

Kiba began to understand. He was a cute kid, he could give him that. His eyes seemed to hold a gentle light even though they gleamed the lemon yellow of certain breeds of dogs. He then thought of Gaara, and Ryu's words about him.

"Oh…" he said. "I think I get it now…"

He looked at Ryu, a little guilty. "Sorry, Ryu, I didn't know..."

"I know, that's why I told you," she said, picking up her cup of soup.

She then surprised him by putting a finger to his lips.

"Now, I don't want to hear another word about that fight. As far as I'm concerned, it never happened." She said. She winked. "'Kay?"

Kiba tried not to blush. "M'kay," he mumbled so he bite her finger.

They finished their snack, and Kiba decided to walk her home. It was dark after all. They discussed what happened to them during the week while they walked. Ryu told Kiba about her fruitless studying. He encouraged her to keep trying, and to start eating real food again.

"You're not going to gain any weight if you end up eating ramen every night,' he said. He couldn't help but look her over after he said that.

"Have you been able to gain any weight while you've been here?" he asked her. He remembered how skinny she had been when he first met.

"A little but most of its muscle," she said. She poked her rib cage. "You can still count my bones though. Guy's tried everything to get me above a hundred pounds, but it's not working…"

"You weigh less than a hundred pounds?!" Kiba nearly shouted. This was news to him! "How much do you weigh?!"

"About ninety eight and a half." She said simply.

The boy gaped as they neared her apartment. "You're kidding me!" he said. He stopped and put his hands out. "I don't believe it; let me pick up."

Ryu shrugged. "Sure, but I don't-yeek!"

She squealed as Kiba easily lifted her up off the ground. His eyes widened as he held her up.

"Wow! You're like a feather!" he said.

He continued to walk to her apartment with Ryu in his arms. He was able to toss her up and down a little, making her laugh. Her laughter carried easily, making him laugh as well. He was able to carry her up the stairs and then put her down. She was still giggling as she opened her door.

"Thanks, Kiba,' she said. Al and Raikera went around her and inside.

"You're welcome," he said. "Good luck in the final rounds."

"You too. Good night."

"Good night."

She went inside and he walked down the steps. He smiled to himself, glad that he and Ryu were friends again. But he was worried now. If she faced either Sakura or Hinata, both of them could easily send her flying. Even then, if she did make it to the final round, it would be Gaara, himself, Aki, Saphira, Sara, or Ikara that she would be fighting. Any one of them could do serious damage to her if they wanted to. He bit his lip. Akumaru bumped the back of his leg.

_You know,_ he said. _She's a ninja too. She wouldn't have beaten that Viraj guy if she couldn't stand her ground._

He sighed. "That's true…" he said.

Akumaru rolled his eyes. _Don't worry; she'll be fine._

Kiba truly hoped so as he walked home. The final rounds were next Friday. Both he and Hinata were going to have to work their butts off if they were going to be ready. He thought of Gaara and that Aki boy. This was going to be one hek of a show for the audience.


	15. RYU! WHERE ARE YOU!

**Author's Note: ** It is with determination I ring you this chapter! I was determined to update as quickly as I could! And… Drumroll please! drumroll The final rounds are here!! Whoo! This marks the half-way point for this story and I am very excited to announce that I am planning three more stories about. By then I should have my normal computer up and running and then I won't have to type everything on my computer at home, print it, type it again on my flash drive, and then put it on FanFiction. I'm actually up to chapter seventeen on my computer and I'm pretty close to finishing too. So anyway, Happy Reading!!

Ryu

**RYU?! WHERE ARE YOU?!?!**

**K**iba yawned loudly, sitting up in his bed. For someone who was fighting in the final rounds, he had slept pretty soundly. He had surprised himself this morning with his eagerness. Akumaru jumped onto his bed, panting happily.

_You ready? _his partner asked.

"Completely and absolutely!" he said.

He got dressed, ate his breakfast, gave his mom a hug goodbye, and then went out the door. She would be arriving later to watch the matches in the stands. He ran to the arena, both anxious and excited about this. As long as he proved he was capable of being a chunin, it didn't really matter if he won. He just had to show that he was worthy. When he got to the stadium, he saw that Gaara, Sakura, and Hinata were already there along with Aki, Ikara, and Saphira. Neither Ryu nor Sara had were there. The crowd roared as Sirym stood in front of them. She turned around to face them, and counted them. She looked puzzled.

"Where's the Akihara girl?" she asked, looking around them.

Gaara looked at Kiba, who shrugged his shoulders. He thought he knew where she was. Sirym sighed.

"Well, we can't wait for her, we need to start on time," she said.

She dug around in her messenger bag. "There have been a few changes so pay attention."

She took out a tournament map, and Kiba blinked. His match with Sara had been canceled. He had now been moved up to fight Aki. A strong of panic went through his head; he had to fight that freaky poison guy just like that?!

"Do I… still go first?" he said, almost not wanting to ask.

Sirym shook her head. "No, we're still going in order so it'll be easier to keep track of all of you." she said.

Kiba sighed in his head, relieved. Gaara then raised a hand.

"Yes?"

"What happened to the Mist girl?" he asked.

He remembered her match with Kankuro. His brother had later told him that she was spirit medium like him, and that she knew Ryu.

"She had to drop out due to health complications," she explained. She looked around. "Any more questions?"

No one raised their hand and that when she turned around to face the audience. She held up a hand to show that they were ready to begin, and the crowd roared its approval. The finals had officially begun. She turned and pointed at Saphira and Ikara.

"You two stay down here. The rest of you go up and wait for your turn," she said.

Saphira and Ikara took places across from each other. Hinata stayed close to Kiba as he caught up to Gaara.

"Hey," he said. The red-head looked at him. "Do you know where Ryu is?"

"I was hoping you knew," he said.

"So you're telling me that no one knows where she is?"

Gaara frowned. "Apparently,"

Kiba tried not to bite his lip. Akumaru whined quietly next to him. As soon as they were all up in the waiting area, Sirym stood a little ways away from Saphira and Ikara. She put a hand up and swung it down.

"Start!" Her voice echoed without the use of walls or devices.

The crowd roared once more. Ikara took a taijutsu stance while Saphira stood up straight. She had taken the time to look around the battlefield earlier; it had rained last night. Fat, gleaming puddles were scattered across the arena. She smiled at Ikara, friendly. Ikara cocked her head, wary and a little confused at the same time.

Saphira quickly skipped forward, and dizzyingly flipped a few times toward her. Ikara went forward, preparing to kick her. As soon as her foot connected, Saphira made a flurry of hand signs and turned into water. The water Saphira splashed into nothing and Ikara found herself alone. The Sound kunoichi looked around.

She quickly undid her hair, the tresses twisting to life. A few of the puddles started to bubble, and water clones of Saphira came out of the puddles. The water clones charged and Ikara used her hair to fend them off. She was able to get control of her hair enough so that they could form spikes. She drove them through the water clones, searching for the real Saphira.

But with every water clone she would disperse, two others would appear from the remnants. After a few minutes of this, Ikara decided to try and get some distance between herself and the clones. She took off at a run and skidded around some trees. She jumped into one and then five other Ikaras dropped from the trees. Kiba was reminded of Sakura's battle with Gegai as it turned into a battle of the clones in the arena.

The real Ikara was left standing in a drenched circle. More Saphiras came out of the remaining puddles and Ikara made a few hand signs. Electricity crackled around her. She then released it with a shout, making the clones explode into a spray. The real Saphira was sent flying.

Ikara quickly went after her and Saphira jumped to her feet. She wobbled a bit, unsteady from the electric shock. The electricity continued around Ikara as she sent her hair at her. The hair snapped around her limbs and sent electricity straight to her. Saphira yelled in pain, struggling to get out of Ikara's hold.

Ikara started to drag her toward her, so she'd be easier to knock out with her hands. Saphira struggled to put her hands together to form hand signs, trying to ignore the pain. More electricity started to whirl around the girl as Saphira was brought closer. The Mist ninja was finally ale to put her hands together and quickly formed had signs. She stuck her hand out as Ikara realized what was happening.

A water prison sprang out of the remnants of the water clones near her. Ikara's electricity was attracted to the water and spun itself around her. Inside the prison, Ikara screamed as she ended up shocking herself with the hit meant for Saphira. She went limp inside the water and Saphira let the jutsu go. Sirym put her hands up, and pointed at Saphira.

"Saphira Wazarahi is the winner!" she said.

Saphira waved to the crowd as the medic nin came out to pick up the unconscious Ikara.

"That was pretty clever," observed Sakura from where the other stood. "She was able to use her own electricity against her."

She then heard Sirym's voice fly across the arena.

"Alright! Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuga! Please come down here!"

The two girls looked at one another and went down the stairs. Kiba nervously tapped his foot. His match was next, and Ryu still wasn't here. He bit his lip. Gaara looked at him.

"Kiba," he said. The boy looked at him. "Don't worry, she'll be here."

He sighed. "I know, it's just…" He let the sentence trail off, and then thought of something.

"Gaara, do you think you can do something for me?"

Gaara nodded.

"If Ryu isn't here by the time my match starts, can you go to her apartment and see if she's there?"

"Sure, I'll do that," he said.

They then turned their attention to Sakura and Hinata's match, which had already started. Sakura was keeping her distance from Hinata's chakra attacks, and using shuriken and kunai knives against her. But it seemed Hinata had worked on her speed, as she had been warned about Sakura's sudden bursts of quickness. She had watched her in action before. So as Sakura kept her distance, Hinata dodged and jumped Sakura's attacks while coming closer.

Sakura suddenly jumped onto the wall, using her chakra to stick to it. She threw a few more kunai knives that Hinata dodged. The quiet Hyuga then saw the burning papers attached to them. She quickly shielded herself, and they exploded. A burst of noise came from the crowd.

Sakura jumped down to see if Hinata was still standing. The smoke had yet to clear. Hinata suddenly jumped from the smoke, ambushing Sakura from the side. The lines of Byakugan lined her eyes, and Sakura was unprepared for what hit her.

"Sixty-four trigrams!"

She was suddenly being pummeled every place imaginable. Sakura didn't even have time to shout the hits cam so quickly. She was knocked few feet away from Hinata as she finished the mve. Sakura tried to get up, but her legs wouldn't move. Every single chakra point in her had been blocked except for the ones that kept her alive.

She threw some kunai and shuriken at her in a last attempt, but Hinata easily dodged them. She was then suddenly behind her, and hit Sakura in the back of the head with a light chakra blow. Sirym pointed at Hinata.

"Hinata Hyuga is the winner!"

The crowd shouted its approval, even though it had been a quick match. Hinara blushed in embarrassment. She searched the crowd and saw Naruto and Kakshi sitting there. She blushed even harder, but then realized that she had just beaten his teammate. As the medic nin came out, she gave them one of her healing ointments to use on her.

Kiba sighed; he had known Hinata would win. If only she had just made it longer. Now it was his turn to fight that freaky poison user. He was nervous as his stomach turned to ice. He didn't want to be poisoned like some kind of rat! He looked at Gaara, who nodded.

"Good luck," he said. Kiba sighed once more.

"Thanks, I'm going to need it." He looked down at Akumaru. "Ready, boy?"

_Let's do this!!! _Akumaru growled fiercely.

They went down the stairs and came out into the bright light of the arena. He could see the small craters left from Sakura's fire bombs, and the scorch marks left by Ikara's electric attacks. Aki stood a little ways off.

"Hoo," he blew under his breath.

_Okay, ready or not, it's time to face this creep,_ he thought as he looked at the black haired boy. His thin purple braids blew in the wind as he stood calmly in front of him. He sighed in his mind; alrght, he had to beat this guy. It was either him or this guy who might be facing Ryu in the end and he'd rather it be him. At least he knew he wouldn't try to kill her.

_If she shows up that is!! _He though angrily. He looked around. _Ryu?! Where the hek could you be?!_

Sirym held up her hand and then brought it down.

"Start!"


	16. Special Author's Note 2

**Super Special Author's Note**

**YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSS!!!!!!**

**MY FLOPPY DRIVE IS FIXED!!!**

**FINALLY!!**

Now all I have to do is find a computer _with _a floppy drive so I can use it and update like a normal person...

So, get ready for a White Wings of Darkness EXPLOSION!!! Or as much as an explosion as the technology allows me... Either way, expect much faster updating from now on. If everything goes right! Cross your fingers and Happy Reading with the next Chapter!

- Ryu


	17. Pick Your Poison

**Author's Note:** Yeeeeeeeeee!!!! I'm still so excited about my fixed floppy drive... It's so _quiet_ and _working_ and _working_... It works so nicely and it accepts my floppies without having to use a hammer and a screw-driver... Okay, I'm kidding about the hammer and screw-driver thing, but anyway... Did I mention that it works:D

-Ryu

**Pick Your Poison**

**J**ust as Gaara had promised, he had left the arena to find Ryu when Kiba's match had started. He didn't exactly care whether Kiba won or not; he just wanted the chance to ring Aki's neck at some point. He _was_ going to get his revenge for what he had done to his sister. Temari still hadn't recovered enough to train yet. That poison was strong.

So as he ran down the street to Ryu's apartment, he hoped that Kiba would be careful. If Aki had made any adjustments to his poisons, which he probably had, Kiba could easily be killed. He used close combat as well, which didn't bode well for poison weilders. He wondered whether or not he should hurry to bring Ryu to the arena when that meant for her to watch one of her best friends fight someone so deadly. He could almost hear Ryu's scream when Kiba would hit the ground, dead from poison.

He shook his head. That was something he neither wanted to hear nor see, especially Ryu's screaming part. He walked up the stairs and went up to her front door. He knocked, and waited. There was no response.

He then knocked a couple more times. Nothing again. He decided to try once more, and looked up when he heard a growl and a meow. Al was standing in the window and Raikera had stretched out enough so she could look out with her paws on the window sill. Gaara looked in to see if Ryu was there, because if the both of them were here, that meant she hadn't left.

Books and paper were flung all over of the apartment along with something black that seem to have been splashed all around. He saw Ryu's head resting against the side of her bed, but didn't see the rest of her. Gaara's heart quickened in panic as he popped the screen open and jumped inside. Paper crunched underneath his sandals, and he quickly went over to Ryu. Her back was against her bed, her hair was a mess and there was a book in her lap.

She was breathing, which meant she was alive, and the black that was splattered about seemed to be ink. Gaara sighed in relief. He knelt down and lightly shook her.

"Ryu,"

Her eyelids didn't even twitch. He shook her a little harder.

"Ryu, wake up," he said, raising his voice a little.

Nothing from her again, and he shook a little harder. Raikera came over and started to chew on her mistress' fingers, but even that didn't wake her up. What, was she in a coma? Gaara was starting to get frustrated. He shook her and called her name for about five minutes before his temper started to boil. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her vigorously.

"RYU!!" he shouted. "WAKE UP THIS INSTANT!! HOW CAN YOU SLEEP WHEN KIBA'S FIGHTING AKI?!?!"

Ryu finally opened her eyes. "What?"

Gaara blinked. _Wow, that actually worked, _he thought, surprised. She rubbed one eye and looked around. "What? Gaara? What're you-?"

Her eyes widened in panic and realisation. "OHMIGOD!!!" she screamed as she jumped to her feet.

She rushed around the house, air sliding around in her pajamas. She grabbed her messenger bag and a few scrolls then shoved Gaara outside so she could get dressed. She came outside in under a minute in something he had never seen her wear before. Black sandals with her usual knee-highs, white shorts with a black belt, and her top half was covered by a tan colored long coat. She grabbed his hand and they started to run down the street to the arena. They were able to get back into the arena and Gaara led her to the waiting area. She saw Hinata looking nervously down at the battlefeild.

"Hinata!!" she called. She stopped at the railing. "How's he doing? What'd I miss?"

"Um... He's doing okay, I think," she said.

She looked down to see a panting Kiba with a steady Akumaru by his side. Aki was standing a little ways off across from him. It didn't look like he had used any poison yet. Kiba and Akumaru took off after him. Kiba went to the left and Akumaru went to the right.

Aki quickly vaulted away, his gymnastics skills still strong. But Kiba had been expecting this and threw some shuriken at him. Aki dodged this, but barely managed to escape Akumaru's teeth as he did so. He rolled away and had to jump out of Kiba's reach. The two met up once again, and Kiba fished in his pocket for the food pills.

He gave one to Akumaru so the dog could easily reach Aki next time. The puppy growled, his fur turning red and bristling. He snarled threateningly at the Grass ninja. Aki took a taijustu position as the two went after him once more. The boy seemed to take a moment to center himself, and met the two half-way.

He was able to hit Kiba, making him fall away from him, but Akumaru bit him full on the calf. Aki gritted his teeth as the puppy growled venomously while he dug his teeth into him. He tried to shake the dog off, swinging his leg around in a kind of manic yoga position. Kiba laughed; he couldn't help himself, after all this was the plan. He took a couple of smoke bombs and set them off.

He then charged into the smoke. Akumaru then let go of Aki as soon as he had bitten on. Aki limped around, confused in the smoke. From the waiting area above, Ryu, Hinata, Saphira, and Gaara could see the signature grey whirls that sliced the smoke screen go in and out. It seemed Aki had waited too long to use his poison.

The whirls broke the screen a few more times, and then two Kibas jumped out of the smoke. They waited for some kind of response from inside the smoke. Ryu's knuckles were white as she held onto the railing in anxiousness. It seemed like nothing was going to happen when shuriken suddenly exploded from the clearing smoke. Akumaru changed back into himself and doged as many as he could in his small form along with Kiba.

Aki came charging out of the smoke, and started to attack him. He had taken out a katana from somewhere even though they hadn't seen a blade on him when the match had begun. Ryu guessed he had summoned it like TenTen could summon her own weapons. He went straight for Kiba, ignoring Akumaru completely. Kiba was able to easily dodge the sharp blade as Aki still seemed injured from the attacks before.

Akumaru growled and barked then went for the concentrating Grass ninja. The boy suddenly vaulted away from Kiba and took a scroll out in mid-air. He opened it, summoning senbon and sent a rain of metal at Kiba, who dodged. But Akumaru had been aiming for the place where both Kiba and Aki had been. The puppy was caught in the attack and howled as senbon hit his side.

"Akumaru!" Kiba shouted, and went for his companion's rescue.

He jumped into the rain and grabbed his friend, his back being open for attack. Aki, now on the ground, took this opportunity and sent another shower of senbon his way. Kiba held Akumaru to his chest, and dodged, his ankles and shins the only area where he was hit. He gritted his teeth as he moved out of range, and took the senbon out of Akumaru. The puppy whined in extreme pain.

He was about to ask, since the cuts weren't deep, when he himself was seized with pain. The sudden sensation made him gasp for breath. It felt like his skin was on fire. He took the senbon out of himself quickly and noticed the tips were colored purple. _He painted poison on the senbon,_ Kiba thought. He had only been looking for the poison smoke; he hadn't thought of poison needles. Aki was walking over to him.

"Have you felt it yet?" he asked. "When I found out I'd be facing you, I wasn't exactly sure what to do. But now I see that the nerve poison I made works nicely on you."

Kiba glared daggers at him. "Poison is for cowards!" he snarled at him, turning the pain into rage. "Why don't you face me like a man?!"

Aki took out more senbon. "Traditionally, poison is the coward's way out," he said calmly. He aimed for the pain-stricken boy. "But then again, two against one isn't very fair here either."

He threw them at him, and Kiba grabbed Akumaru and dodged out of the way. The senbon hit the ground, but Kiba found that the pain increased as he moved. He suddenly saw Aki in front him and was hit with a spray of senbon in his chest. The impact sent him skidding away from the Grass ninja. Gaara watched the match spiral downward with folded arms, but then noticed the nervous Ryu.

Her eyes were large with panic. He moved a little closer and put his arm around her for comfort. He could see that this wouldn't end well, and he could at least try to be there for her when it happened. Kiba cried out from the new dose of poison. His entire body felt like it was being attacked by unseen needles.

His vision was going in and out of the light. He saw a blurry Aki standing in front of him. He aimed another senbon at him. Kiba quickly put Akumaru behind him for safety. He thought he'd try one more time to attack him.

He gritted his teeth and jumped at him. But the poison moved with swift intention. His movements were suddenly cut off short as he fell to the ground. Ryu let go of Gaara and nearly fell over the railing. Hinata thought she might faint. Sirym waited a beat, but then thought back to the last match she had seen with this boy. She quickly went over to the fallen Inuzuka, and saw that he was out cold but still twitching. She shivered; the poison this kid was using wasn't friendly. She pointed at Aki.

"Aki Yostuba is the winner!"

The medic nin came out quickly and picked up Kiba and Akumaru. Ryu was shaking with anxiety. She wanted to jump down there and make sure Kiba was alright by herself. She saw Aki stop one of the medic nin, and hand them a bottle, just as he had done with Temari. Gaara bristled; he wanted that boy's skin! Ryu couldn't take it anymore; she jumped from the waiting area and ran to Kiba's stretcher. Akumaru whined in her direction and she spun back around in mid-run and went over to him. She looked to the medic nin pleadingly.

"I'm a friend of his, can I please carry Akumaru?" she asked.

"Yes, but be careful with him."

Ryu gently took Akumaru and held the puppy close to her. Amongst the pain, Akumaru felt guilty. It was his fault that Kiba got poisoned since he had jumped in to save him. Ryu followed the medic nin into their room, and watched them set up an i.v. for Kiba. They got a needle and injected the antidote into the stream.

Ryu held Akumaru to her chest as she sat down. Even though he was unconscious, Kiba still seemed to be growling in pain. Sweat gleamed on his forehead as violent fever seemed to come over him, and Ryu went over to hold his hand. Worry was running rampant in her brain. They had just been able to start getting along again; how come this had to happen?

She hoped Kiba would be alright after the poison wore off and that there weren't any sideaffects. She looked out the window to see into the arena. Gaara's match was starting. She bit her lip; she should go out and cheer him on. She looked to Kiba. But shouldn't she stay here as well? Her internal struggle couldn't wait as she saw Sirym start the match. She then heard a scuffle outside of the room.

"I don't care about stupid protocol!! That's my son in there, and I want to see him! NOW!" a woman's voice was heard shouting along with the bark of a wolf.

The door suddenly burst open, and a fierce looking woman with the marks of the Inuzuka clan stomped into the room. A grey and black wolf with an eye-patch stood behind her. She gasped when she saw Kiba lying there.

"Oh... Kiba!" She quickly went to kneel by the bedside. Then she realised Ryu was sitting there as well. She blinked.

"Oh, hi, Ryu. When did you get here?" she asked.

Ryu was a little confused; how did this woman know who she was? Then it dawned on her that this was Kiba's mother.

"I got here a little while ago." she answered, not letting go of Kiba's hot hand.

His mom got up and sat on the bed, taking hold of his other hand. She didn't say anything about Ryu's holding the other and keeping Akumaru on her lap. Ryu quickly looked to the window as she heard a cheer from the crowd. She strained to look, but not wanting to let go of Kiba's hand and disturb Akumaru, she could only see wet sand churning on the battle field. Kiba's mom looked up as well.

"Kiba told me that you're friends with Gaara as well," she said. Ryu nodded, and, as she was taller then her, Kiba's mom looked out the window.

"He's winning," she said. She then looked to her son as another wave of pain seemed to sweep through him.

Ryu jumped a little as her hand was squeezed so hard it almost hurt. Akumaru whined in his companion's direction as the boy was seized with yet another wave of pain on top of the last. The girl gently petted him as Kiba moaned. She saw that Kiba's mom was biting her lip. Another cheer was heard from outside. Ryu heard Sirym shouting outside.

"Gaara of the Sand is the winner!"

Ryu perked up. Gaara had won; that was good. She saw that the tournament rounds had been posted in the room. Wait a second, her match was next!! Wasn't she fighting Hinata?! She looked to Kiba and then his mom. She smiled at her.

"Don't worry, I'll stay here with him." she said.

Ryu gently let go Kiba's hand and handed Akumaru over to his mom. The puppy whined and licked her hands as she did. Kiba's mom smiled at her again.

"He just told you, 'Good luck.'" she said. Ryu gently rubbed the puppy's head.

"Thankyou Akumaru," she said. She heard the clacking of sandals and Gaara came in. He jerked a thumb to the entrance.

"You're up," he said. He noticed the concern lining her face.

A small pang of despair hit him in the chest as something whispered in him, _How can I compete with that?_ He wondered where it had come from as Ryu slowly left the room. Gaara watched her go, and then saw the medic nin bring in the knocked out Saphira. He felt no guilt this time. After all, the girl had tried to drown him.

Ryu walked out into the bright light to hear the crowd cheering. A small amount of panic seized her as she looked around. She was going to fight in front of all these people?! She looked to see Hinata, one of the shyest genin around, standing tall and waiting for her to come. Ryu took a breath.

Well, if she could do it, so could she. She walked so she was standing across from her. Sirym was standing between them. She waited a beat and then put her hand up.

"Begin!"


	18. Special Author's Note 3: NOOOO!

**Super Special Author's Note…. Again**

GAH!!!!

NO!!

It's not fair!!!!! TT Alright, my floppy drive is working now, but all the computers I keep going to for Internet won't let me use my floppies!!! cries hysterically

So, now I'm back to what I was doing…. But hey! I'm one chapter ahead of schedule now!

Aha! I CAN be positive when it comes to technology. Though I'm very sad that The White Wings of Darkness can't have a chapter explosion now…

-Ryu


	19. Walking On Air

**Author's Note: **Okay, repeat after me! I hate technology! I hate technology! I think I might have to write a song for this… Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, I've got something to tell my crazy fans. I'm part of a radio show that airs in Providence, Rhode Island and we have a blog! If you're wondering who I am on the show, I'm Liz and I do the interviews! And here's another piece of crazy info: one of my guy friends is doing a speech on poisonous food and guess what he found? A fruit called…. The aki-fruit! Seriously!! If you eat it before it's ripe, you die! I didn't even know about it until he told me; I must be psychic or something… Well, hope you found it all interesting! Happy Reading!

-Ryu

**Walking On Air**

**Ryu **took a stance to hold her ground, as did Hinata. They faced each other for a moment, taking each other in. Up in her seat, Tsunade folded her hands. She had actually been looking forward to this match since she remembered both Tetsu and Shana. She wanted to see what their daughter could do against one of the Village's main branches.

Both girls circled each other for a second, and then Ryu decided to take the initiative. She ran toward Hinata, who held up her hands in a defense position. She quickly vaulted over her, getting ready to kick her from behind. Hinata turned to catch her, but then Ryu disappeared. She then reappeared in front of her, and aimed for her turned head.

But Hinata caught her foot. Ryu hopped uncertainly on her free foot, and saw the lines of the Byakugan on Hinata's face.

"Ah, hell," she said. Hinata then threw her.

She concentrated her wind to cushion her fall, and did an uncertain hand-stand in catching herself. She then had to quickly shoot herself up into the air as Hinata came charging forward. She quickly went up a few feet, where Hinata couldn't reach her; she needed to think of a strategy. Ryu quickly thought of what she knew about the Byakugan from what she had gathered during her training sessions with Neji. She remembered that he could basically predict her movements and block her chakra points.

She folded her arms. How could she defeat her when she could see what she was going to do next? Her concentration was broken as Hinata had started throwing shuriken and kunai knives at her. Ryu had to dodge them in mid-air. She then caught the falling weaponry and started to throw it back at her.

She went side-ways, and upside-down, using her new technique. Hinata was able to effectively dodge most of it, as Ryu kept changing position with every throw. A few grazed her arms and legs, the girl flinching when they did. As Ryu threw the knives and shuriken, she slowly started to come back down to the ground. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she flew toward Hinata.

She quickly put up the wind barrier she had started to use with Neji, and started to try her luck by hitting her with wind strengthened punches and kicks. Hinata shifted and twisted around every try, and, even though she was missing, Ryu had to admit she looked cool. She tried one more time as she aimed a kick at the girl's head, but then disappeared using her wind. Ryu had just appeared behind her when Hinata spun around, and hit her full in the chest with a chakra blow. The hit was swift and sent Ryu tumbling head over heels to the arena wall.

Hinata went back to her original stance; that blow should have been enough to knock her out. Ryu then sat up amongst the dust, her almond shaped eyes huge.

"Whoo! That was a rush!!" she exclaimed, suddenly revitalized by the chakra blow.

Inside her head, Hinata faltered. She hadn't expected this. The anxiety that lived in her started to bite at her confidence. Had her father seen that? Of course had see it; he was watching in the blasted stands!!

She bit her lip as Ryu got up and brushed herself off. The what-ifs started to swirl in her mind. Now what? Ryu was wondering the same thing as she started her usual prowl around her opponent. They seemed to be at a stall mate or at least that's what is seemed to her.

She couldn't use her usual hits since Hinata could predict and 'see' her moves. She wanted to use her wind techniques, but didn't know if they would work. Hinata had been following her prowl, and then decided to go after her. Even though she was being attacked, Ryu couldn't help but notice the detail of the Gentle Fist. It was beautiful.

She wondered why Neji didn't fight like Hinata, who seemed a little more graceful then him. Ryu blocked with her forearms and cushioned the hits that Hinata was aiming at with her wind barrier. Hinata could feel that she was hitting something, but it didn't feel like Ryu. She jumped away from her small battle to take the situation in. On impulse, Ryu decided to chase her, not giving her the opportunity to take everything in.

Hinata had to ready herself, and Ryu, on another impulse, spun on a foot to start a whirlwind. She let it go and then air-slid to the side as the whirlwind went forward. The young Hyuga scrambled out of the way of the small tornado and then turned to deal with Ryu. The whirlwind spun itself out as they started to try and hit one another again. Ryu bit the inside of her cheek, thinking.

A strategy started to take form inside her mind though she wasn't about it. It might not work. And it would take a lot of concentration on her part. Ryu gulped; she might as well try. If she lost, she lost. There wasn't much she could about it.

Hinata then skipped backward, away from Ryu, who had chased yet again. She took a stance Ryu had never seen before. The Byakugan lines deepened.

"Sixty-Four Trigrams!"

Ryu stopped her chase. _What?!_ She was suddenly being pummeled everywhere. She didn't even have time to shout. Ryu suddenly realized with a jerk that her concentration on her wind barrier was bei8ng blown to bits.

She pushed the pain aside and sent a rush of wind around herself. The quick gathering of the element pushed Hinata back a few inches. Ryu did a back-flip to get away from her, and then spun herself around. A whirlwind enveloped her, and started to grow. It grew to about the height of the stadium, and then approached Hinata.

The girl quickly started to run from it. Ryu jumped out from the top, and let the whirlwind go. She floated to the earth and started to create more whirlwinds, spinning on her toes every other step. The arena was quickly covered in whirlwinds, leaving Hinata hard-pressed to find running space.

Ryu gritted her teeth in concentration; it was taking a lot to control all this wind. If anything got loose, she might trash the stadium. She exhaled deeply and started to manipulate it all. She made it so the whirlwinds circled Hinata, closing her off. Hinata anxiously looked around herself; she was completely surrounded by roaring wind.

They started to close in and joined into one huge tornado with a kunoichi inside it, Ryu closed her eyes, listening to the element and lightly sharpening the winds. She didn't want to hurt Hinata, at least not mortally or enough to land her in a bed next to Kiba. After not even a minute, she let the whirlwind disperse and Hinata fell to the ground. Ryu had to stop herself from running over and catching her; she was supposed to be pretending that Hinata was an enemy ninja!

But that couldn't stop her from cushioning her fall a little. Hinata made a small attempt to get back up, but she collapsed onto the earth again. She was completely whipped out from being spun around about forty times. Her balance was completely shot. Sirym waited a few seconds and then pointed at Ryu.

"Ryu Akihara is the winner!"

Ryu sighed, and then jumped when the crowd roared. She didn't think she would get cheered for. She then put her attention back to Hinata. She air-slid over to her, and bent down next to the ground.

"Hinata, are you alright?' she asked her.

The genin nodded, seemingly out of breath. A small hand then met her vision. She looked up to see Ryu bent over, and offering her a hand up. Ryu smiled at her. Hinata took the hand and was helped onto her dizzy feet. A cheer from the crowd made both of them jump, and Ryu looked around herself.

The high walls of the stadium suddenly jumped out at her, the crowd looking bigger than before. The sudden realization that _everyone_ had been able to see what she could do thunked her in the head. Panic grabbed her once again.

"AAAAAAAH!!!" she screamed, freaking out from the sudden feeling of being completely exposed.

She air slid as fast as she could back to the waiting area, leaving a huge cloud of dust and wind streaks in her wake. A question mark hung in the air as both the spectators and Sirym wondered where the Akihara had so swiftly gone. Tsunade laughed to herself in her seat, and looked up at Jiraiya who was standing behind her. He grinned wildly at her.

"So, do you think that Shana or Tetsu reincarnated down there?" he asked her. This only seemed to make her laugh harder.

Ryu was up in the area before she even knew it, or before the audience really did. She panted from the panic that had suddenly exploded in her body.

"Oh my God, Gaara!! There are so many people out there!!!" she said, her eyes even huger then they usually were.

But there came no response from the red-head as he stood looking into the arena, his eyes fixed on the ground. Ryu was brought back down to earth as she looked at him. His eyes were still green, but she felt like they had unseen red tinge to them. He was glaring intensely at something invisible to her. He didn't looked or feel like the normal Gaara she knew.

A silent rage had been stuffed inside him. Ryu bit her lip as she came closer to him, concerned about the sudden condition.

She touched his shoulder. "Gaara?"

This seemed to break the spell, and he looked at her. He blinked, looking like he had just woken up from something.

"Hm?" the sound came from him like he hadn't even known she had been there until a second ago.

Ryu large brown eyes gleamed with anxious concern, her face lined with worry. Gaara mentally shook himself; he couldn't act that way in front of Ryu. Even if Shukaku was roaring inside him for some kind of blood from the poison boy he was about to fight. He forced himself to smile for her, wanting to disperse the worry he had just caused.

"You won," he said, congratulating her.

It didn't work as she looked uncertainly at him.

"Are you alright?" she asked, her tone genuine.

A heart string twinged inside him. She saw right through him. He opened his mouth to explain everything to her, about his temper and his grudges, but Sirym's calling stopped him. He gave her a weak smile, and started to walk away.

"Gaara! Wait!"

He suddenly felt arms going around him from behind. He looked back to see Ryu giving him a hug. She smiled at him.

"Good luck out there!" she said encouragingly.

He spun around on complete impulse and hugged her tightly back. He pulled away, keeping his hands on her waist. He almost didn't want to let go of her.

"Good luck to you too," he said. She looked quizzically at him. "You go after me, remember?"

Her eyes became larger, a little fear entering into them. She bit her lip. She looked down.

"Well, you're going now so… Get down there and kick that guy's ass!"

She said the last line fiercely. He looked a little surprised at her, but then smiled.

"Will do, love!"

He realized half a second later what he had just said and quickly used his sand to disappear down to the arena. Ryu stood there for a moment, her mind a complete blank. _What did he just say?_ she thought. She turned to the railing, nearly hanging herself over it to make herself heard.

"GAARA!!" she shouted down to him. He turned around. "WHAT DID YOU SAY? YOU TALKED TOO FAST!!!"

Gaara thanked the distance that she couldn't see the red on his cheeks.

"I SAID, 'WILL DO, DOVE!'" he shouted to her.

"OKAY!!"

Ryu was still a little confused though. Why had he called her a dove?

Gaara turned back to Sirym and Aki. His blood started to boil as soon as he looked back at the black and purple haired boy with the mismatched eyes. Shukaku growled inside him. It wanted to kill him, but, even though he also wanted to, he couldn't do that. He could maim him though. The cruel and wicked grin spread across his face as his basilisk eyes bored holes into the Grass ninja.

Sirym nervously tapped her foot. She was going to watch this match from afar. Very afar for that matter. She held her hand up, looking between the two death glares being shared. She swung her hand down.

"START!"

She then leapt away as far as she could.

**Extra Author's Note:** Man, I'm writing a lot of author's notes these days… But I just wanted to say the next chapter might be a while getting re-written onto my flash drive since it's _really_ long. About ten pages worth on Word. So it might be about three to four weeks until I update again. So, see you then! …And I just remembered I forgot to put up the blog's website: youthvoiceradio. 


	20. Quicksand

**Author's Note:** Wow, Ryu didn't hear that? Oh well! Better luck next time Sandman! And I hope that wasn't too much of a groan-maker for the Pro-Gaara. For the Pro-Kiba guys, keep your fingers crossed! Oh, and I've decided to take a page out of good ol' Kishimoto's book and start doing chapter-ly cartoons about myself and what's happened while I've been writing. That'll be coming next chapter though. Man, my hand hurts!! I sat for four hours straight typing all this!! Hope you like them! Happy Reading!!

-Ryu

**Quicksand**

**S**irym didn't need to say it twice. Gaara willed the sand to rush forward in a quick, crushing wave. Aki flipped backwards a few times then was able to make it to a tree. Gaara sighed, willing the sand to follow him, snaking around the tree. The sand grated against the tree's trunk, working like a saw against the wood.

The tree started to fall forward, and Aki was forced to jump out of it. He vaulted over the incoming sand, and grabbed hold of one of the cracks in the wall of the arena wall. He propped his feet up against the concrete and jumped, the sand following. Gaara frowned where he stood; he was fast. What, did everyone have to copy Lee's inhuman speed?

The sand would eventually catch him. _He_ would eventually catch him and put the poison maker out of his misery. The sand followed the boy as he made a few clones, quickly dashing his into fluttery bits. Aki spun on quick feet and threw a flurry of senbon at him. The sand caught the senbon, grinding the metal into dust from the pressure it wielded.

Gaara rolled his eyes; that had been completely pointless. He made the sand follow him faster, blocking and ripping apart anything he sent at him. The boy insisted on throwing more poisoned senbon and ninja weaponry at him, in the vain hope of catching him off-guard at some point. This was slowly aggravating him, so much so that he wanted to reach out of his protective circle of sand and punch the boy with his own fists. Aki made more clones, much to Gaara's annoyance, and they all moved in closer than before.

With a sigh, he waited for them to get close enough so he could reach them at arm's length. Then he sent the sand upwards around him in a sudden wave, closing around him in a protective shell. The painted points of senbon dug into the sand, but none reached him. He made the sand explode outwards, careful to find where the real Aki was, and then reached out of his sand. He grabbed the boy by the wrist and swung him into his ready and waiting fist.

He hit him with his own strength along with the sand that covered him. Fragments cracked and peeled off his knuckles. Aki was thrown a few feet away from him by the blow and the sand quickly caught him in mid-air. It swung him into one of the stadium's walls while Gaara ran to where he would fall, laughing at his opponent's pain. Punching him had felt fantastic; he wanted to do it again. Aki was scrambling and fighting to get out of the sand's clutches, his nose broken and bleeding accompanied with a swelling where Gaara had punched him.

He took out a katana and started to hack at the fluid element, Gaara coming closer all the while. The sand twisted around the metal, crunching it until it broke in his hands. Aki blinked at the sudden loss of his weapon, and then looked up as his opponent was practically on top of him. They both started to physically fight. Aki swung his legs and used his acrobatic skills to the limit. Gaara patiently blocked with his arms, pieces of hardened sand coming off of him along with the sand coming to his protection.

The sand armor was slowing him down a little. He wished he could just shake it off so he could pound the boy into the ground, but it was a vital part of his defense against the poison. There was a flash of an opening and he quickly took it, punching him in the stomach and then using his leg to kick him into the dirt. The cruel grin sprang once again onto his face. One more hit and he would be done with his revenge and could move on to beating the boy senseless to protect Ryu from his poison in the final round.

Up in the stands, Kankuro was cheering like he had lost his mind and Temari was a little confused.

"Whoo! Get him, Gaara!! Show him what Suna's made of!!" he shouted with the din of the crowd, standing up from his seat. Temari looked at him.

"Why is he using his fists?" she shouted to him, trying to make herself heard. "He's fought plenty of times and I've never seen him lay a hand on anybody!"

Kankuro looked at her incredulously.

"Temari, remember what that guy did to you! Gaara's kicking this guy's ass to get him back!"

Her eyes widened in understanding, and she immediately jumped on top of her seat, jumping up and down on top of it.

"GO GAARA!! PUNCH HIM!! DROP-KICK THAT VIPER'S ASS FROM HERE TO THE LAND OF WAVES!!" she shouted at the top of her lungs while dancing on her seat, making the people stare at her for her sudden enthusiasm for violence.

She suddenly swayed and quickly sat back down. Kankuro quickly asked if she was okay, but she waved him.

"I just got dizzy, that's all."

She decided to stomp her feet and continue to shot for her younger brother instead of jumping up and down like a mad-woman. And drop-kick Aki her brother did as he used the sand to sweep both of them up so he could use the height to his advantage. He raised the boy up and then dropped him with a swift kick with his heel. The boy dropped, headed for the ground. Gaara was then able to smile normally, he was now satisfied. He watched Aki do some hand-signs and a huge growth of vines burst out of the ground and caught him. He jumped off the sudden foliage and threw every manner of ninja weaponry at the floating ninja, including the smoke bombs he had used on Temari. Gaara slowly let himself go down as the sand dealt with the poison covered weapons. The sand blocked and ground everything into a metallic dust, and Gaara had devised a way to deal with Aki's smoke bombs. He formed sand into the shape of hands which caught and caught all the bombs he had thrown. The sand then enveloped these as well, little flashes going off to signal the bomb's detonation, and integrated the smoke into itself, making little purple granules of sand.

Once Gaara landed, he sent the sand at Aki, tsunami style. It swept him along, the Grass ninja shouting as the course current scratched his skin like miniature knives. Gaara scratched his shoulder; funny, why was he suddenly itching everywhere? It was making him really uncomfortable…

An explosion of pain in the back of his head suddenly blew apart his sense of reality.

"AAAAARRRRGH!!" he cried, holding his head.

The sand suddenly went limp and writhed where it was, releasing Aki from its strong hold. It felt like he was being stabbed with a steak knife in his head. More stabs of pain made him fall onto his knees, howling. Shukaku roared inside him, feeling his pain and waking up more from that then the rage he had earlier. Gaara feebly tried to capture the sudden surge of power from the demon, but the pain shattered his mental defenses. It felt like he had been lit on fire and Shukaku was trying to crawl out of him to escape it.

_NO!!_ Gaara shouted in his mind, trying to stop the demon from taking control. If it took control, it would force him to fall asleep and then everyone would be in danger, his brother and his sister as well. And Ryu. In the stands, there was chaos as the ones from before recognized Gaara's concentration throes and growling shouts of pain. Temari and Kankuro were quickly trying to get down to the arena to calm Gaara down, but the panicked crowds weren't making it easy. Aki seemed slightly alarmed, but didn't want to throw away this opportunity to finish off his opponent.

He started to slowly creep closer to the thrashing Gaara, who seemed only capable of holding his head in agony. Ryu stood stalk still in the waiting area, her hands glued to the railing, her eyes wide in horror. How could that boy have done this to Gaara?! How cruel did you have to be?! Anger started to well in her toward Aki for doing this both to Gaara and Shukaku, knowing the pain they both must be in.

The sand started to concentrate around Gaara, hardening and liquefying at the same time as his control was slowly being eaten away. Tsunade had stood in her seat, ready to jump down and knock Gaara into a coma in case he lost control. But the red-head wasn't about to lose yet. He suddenly roared in both anger and pain.

"THERE IS NO WAY-!!" he shouted. "I'M GOING TO LET YOU RULE ME AGAIN!!"

He thrust his arms out, trying to scatter all the sand so Shukaku would have no way of using it form. Sweat had already started to drip off him in great streams as it was taking all his concentration to do something that would have been so simple before the poison. Ryu couldn't stand it anymore as he continued to cry out in pain. She jumped from the waiting area and took off at a run as soon as she hit the ground. Aki saw her out of the corner of his eye, and reacted without thinking. He started to chase her, but was then jumped on from behind and knocked to the ground. His hands were tied before he could say anything, and he saw Sirym standing over him.

"Don't even think about using an escape jutsu!" she warned. She then took off after Ryu. "That girl is not part of this fight!"

"Ryu Akihara, stop this second!!" she commanded as she chased after the speeding kunoichi.

A huge rush of sand stopped the jonin, and she had to quickly dodge it. She looked around the sudden road block at the racing girl. Ryu skidded to a stop next to Gaara, grabbing a hold of his shoulders. She knelt to look into his face. He looked so horrible she wanted to cry when she saw how much pain he was in.

"Gaara!!" she pleaded. "Can you hear me?!"

He peered at her, barely able to see through the splotches of white in his vision. He nodded the smallest bit, his head throbbing with any movement. He moaned in pain, keeping all his concentration on keeping the sand away.

"Gaara! Where is your seal?! I can help keep Shukaku from emerging if I make a temporary seal on him!!" she said urgently. By using her own chakra to make a seal, she could help control Shukaku.

"H… H…" His breathing was so labored he could barely speak. He took in a great gulp of air, moaning as he did.

"HEAD!!" he suddenly shouted, nearly blowing Ryu off her with his roar.

Ryu quickly brushed aside his sweat drenched head and looked at his tattoo, which now seemed to be glowing a sickly red color. She quickly gathered chakra in her fingertips and gently touched it. Gaara felt Shukaku revolt violently inside him at the same time the largest spike of pain came. His concentration slipped for half a second, but that was all Shukaku needed. Gaara suddenly looked to Ryu, his eyes wide with panic and fear.

"RUN!!" he shouted desperately.

A quick expression of puzzlement was on her face, but she was suddenly thrown from where she stood as the sand had materialized in the blink of an eye into an arm. The arm extended so much so that it pinned Ryu against one of the stadium's walls. She cried out in the sudden pain, but quickly focused on trying to move. The sand suddenly squeezed her, making her yelp. That's when Tsunade and Jiraiya decided to step in.

They both jumped into the stadium, and Gaara looked to them, his eyes wide with panic and pain. Tsunade started to move toward him to knock him out when he shouted to her.

"No! Please!!" he begged. She stopped as the boy was completely terrified. "If you do something to me it will only make things worse!!"

Jiraiya stepped forward, whispering quickly. "If I summon a toad, it can grab the girl while you deal with calming Shukaku down," he said decisively, already forming the hand-signs.

Tsunade suddenly out a hand up. "Wait-!"

Ryu roared in rage where she was pinned. Her eyes snapped from purple to yellow then an angry mauve color in an instant. She quickly made hand-signs for the sealing jutsu Dr. Masuda taught her for emergencies, and slammed her small hands down on the sand arm. Gaara howled as he clutched the side of his head, Shukaku screaming in protest at being forced back inside him. The sand started to recede as Ryu pushed at it, the purple seal growing as she fed it chakra.

She panted as she pushed, and was half-way there to Gaara when the sand suddenly formed into a mutant crocodile shaped head with burning eyes. It roared at her, and Ryu knew she was looking at one of Shukaku's forms. A sand-fist suddenly pounded the head from the side, scattering the shape and she looked to Gaara, who stood panting, still clutching his head. He tried to smile at her. _Don't worry; I won't let him hurt you._ he wanted to say, but his mouth wouldn't move. The head started to form again, but Ryu gathered more chakra and slammed a hand down on top of it.

"Oh, no you don't!!" she snarled at it.

She gave a great shove, strengthening it with her wind, and the sand arm was blown into small dunes. Gaara fell forward, and would of it the ground if Tsunade hadn't jumped forward to catch him. She gently put him on the ground, and took his pulse. _Out cold, _she thought. _Probably from pain._ She looked up to see that Ryu had collapsed as well, but Jiraiya had gone to see about her.

Ryu shook her head; she could feel a mountain of a headache coming on. She looked up to see Aki getting out of some ropes. Anger roared in her chest, and she air slid as fast as she could over to him. Aki soon found himself being bored into by fierce mauve eyes.

"YOU!!" she roared at him.

Aki was equally angry with her, his mismatched eyes mirroring her own emotion. "What about me?!" he challenged. "_You _interrupted my match!!"

Ryu pointed an accusing finger at him. "_You _tried to kill my friend!!" she snarled at him.

They were both suddenly grabbed by the backs of their shirts, and pulled upward. Sirym was glaring daggers at the two teens.

"BOTH of you are in big trouble!!" she growled at them.

She glared at Ryu. "You!! Interrupting an exam match!!"

An equally smoldering glare at Aki. "You!! Misconduct on the field!!"

"I should disqualify the both of you right now!!" she snarled at them.

Tsunade put a hand on Sirym's shoulder. "Sirym, I think that's enough."

The jonin sputtered. "But-!! They-!!"

The hokage sighed. "Put them down come with me please."

Sirym bit her tongue and put both teenagers down. Ryu glowered at Aki, who glowered back, folding his arms. Tsunade led Sirym over to the side.

"Sirym, we need to continue the exam." she said urgently. The woman gaped at her.

"What?! But Lady Fifth, you saw what they did!! And Gaara is in no condition to be declared winner! I think we should cancel from here!" she said.

"And say what to the other villages?" Tsunade demanded. "That the Leaf Village, once again, screwed up the chunin exam just because of one haughty poison wielder?"

She looked at Tsunade, looking downcast. She sighed, rubbing her forehead. "But really, Lady Fifth…"

"Don't argue with me Sirym." Tsunade said decisively. "The exam goes on."

But the jonin wouldn't be beaten so easily. "On one condition, Lady Fifth, please," she said.

"What is it?"

"Give them only one hour to fight, and that's it. I won't have that kid causing any more damage, and the girl will most likely try to kill him for what he's done to Gaara." she said, looking at her levelly.

Tsunade looked at her for a beat, and then shook her head. "I should have listened to Ibiki," she said, looking at her. "He warned me that you were stubborn."

Sirym smiled at her. "Only when I need to be."

Tsunade allowed herself to smile. "Give the audience an hour to recover so we can straighten things out and calm everyone down." she said.

Sirym nodded and stepped into the center of the arena. What was left of the audience was still churning nervously and shouting above one another. Sirym took a deep breath.

"**ATTEEEEEEEEEEENTIIIIIIOOOOOON!!**" she bellowed, stretching the word out good and long.

Her voice echoed, reaching everyone's ears. Tsunade had to keep herself from laughing out loud; the girl always amazed her with how naturally loud she was. She never needed a microphone for anything. She probably didn't even need a phone to call her friends either. The crowd realized the seriousness of the moment and calmed down. Sirym took another deep breath.

"**THERE WILL BE AN HOUR INTERMISSION BEFORE THE FINAL MATCH!! AFTER THIS, THE STADIUM DOORS WILL BE CLOSED AND NO ONE WILL BE ALLOWED IN OR OUT!! USE THIS TIME WISELY!!**"

Sirym put a hand to her head, feeling dizzy.

"Phew!"

Ryu had ditched Aki to see to Gaara, who was now being picked up by the medic nin. She watched anxiously as they put him on a stretcher. Unlike Kiba, he showed no movement at all. It was almost like he was dead. Aki approached from the other side and handed three bottles of antidote to one of the medics. He avoided looking Ryu's way.

Ryu followed them inside to where the medical rooms were, and watched anxiously as they put Gaara down on a bed. She sat down next to him, wishing he could at least breathe just a bit heavier to prove that he was a little more alive. She thought of Kiba in the next room. Ryu bit her lip as her feelings squirmed; it was fair! How come she had to watch her two best friends fall like that?! She grabbed hold of Gaara's lukewarm hand, and squeezed it.

"Gaara," she whispered. "Please hang on; I don't want anything to happen to you. I couldn't bear it…"

She heard the hastened clack of sandals and looked up to see a panting Temari and Kankuro.

"Is he alright?!" Temari asked immediately, skidding to a stop next to Gaara.

Kankuro looked into his little brother's face, worry making more a statement on his face then the paint. Ryu looked from one sibling to the other, not really knowing what to say. They were just as freaked out as she was from the sudden poison attack.

"It looks like it'll be okay once they figure out how to give him the antidote," she said. "But since the sand protects him from needles and things, they can't put an i.v. in him."

Temari looked at Ryu; the girl sounded like she might go into a blind panic at any moment. Her eyes were unnaturally wide as she looked at them.

"They'll have to give him the antidote orally, I guess," she said. She then noticed Ryu's white-knuckle grip on Gaara's hand.

_The poor thing, she's flipping out completely_, she thought sadly. Temari took a seat on the bed while Kankuro pulled up a chair at the end. He cupped his chin in his hands, looking completely still except for his vibrating feet. Ryu's anxiety kept running circles through her. She looked at Temari.

"But I don't get it," she said, voicing one of her nagging questions. "How did the poison get to him through the sand?"

Kankuro sighed. "It _was_ the sand," he said. "The sand is part of him so when it absorbed all the poison, it eventually got to him too."

Ryu looked to Gaara once more, feeling like the room was slowly being choked by anxiety and worry. Her mind and heart were trying to outrace every worry in her. It was just too much; Kiba and Gaara taken out in one day by the same force and she was powerless to do anything. She bit her lip, nearly making herself bleed from the pressure, and squeezed Gaara's hand once more, trying to steady herself. Her anxiety got the best of her, and her nervously charged body forced her to stand up.

"Um… I'm going to go check on Kiba," she said.

Temari looked at her, seeing worry and stress reflected in her eyes. She nodded, and Ryu left the room. Kiba was right next door, and she knocked before going in. She then had to choke down a gasp when she saw the empty bed. His mom was still there, picking up his coat and carrying Akumaru in her arms.

"W-what happened to Kiba?" she asked, her voice unsteady.

She looked at her. "They took him to the hospital so they could keep a better eye on him," she said. She looked drained and weary.

Akumaru cocked his head at her and whined, concerned about all the roiling emotion he smelled coming off of her. Ryu sighed.

"Okay…" she said, and left.

Ryu walked away and leaned against a wall, trying to stop herself from shaking. Taken to the hospital?! That meant he was in serious trouble and she couldn't go anywhere near him. She was terrified of hospitals and what was in them. Needles, knives, operating rooms…

She looked over at Gaara's door, her willpower starting to crumble. She bit her lip, trying to keep everything together, but then everything inside her broke instead. She couldn't take it anymore! Ryu spun on her heel, and air slid as fast as she could to the bathroom she had seen. She slammed the door behind her, and ran into a stall.

Once there, Ryu nearly screamed. She felt like she was having a mental breakdown, her heart so much from all the stress in the last two hours. She started to cry, losing herself in tears. She felt like she had after the fight with Kiba, weak and hurt. She was crying so hard, she started to hyperventilate, trying to catch her breath amidst the emotional shudders going through her.



**T**emari kept watch over Gaara, holding his hand after Ryu had left. The medic nin had already come in and administered a diluted version of the antidote so it wouldn't be too hard on his stomach. She just felt tired and numb after today's fiasco. At least it was over for now, and her mind had started to settle.

Her little brother was tough, she didn't doubt that. He had survived years of mental struggle and had been able to come back. She had watched him come back from plenty of difficult missions unscathed. A little poison wasn't going to do him in. She looked up at the clock; it had nearly been half-an-hour since Ryu had gone to check on Kiba. She looked to Kankuro.

"Do you think you can keep an eye on him?" she asked.

He looked at her in question as she stood up. "Where are you going?"

She walked to the door. "I'm going to look for Ryu. She seems to be taking this pretty hard." she said. Kankuro nodded to reassure her.

She left, looking around the hallway for her. She then noticed the empty room next to Gaara's. _Alright, so she didn't go see Kiba,_ she thought. She continued to wander, going past the women's bathroom. She paused there when she thought she heard choked sobbing coming from within. A heartstring twinged inside her as she thought of who it might be.

She opened the door and walked in, the crying becoming louder from the echoing effect of the bathroom walls. She tapped open the first stall and saw a heaving Ryu, crying her eyes out for the world. Temari immediately felt sympathy for her.

"Oh, Ryu…" she said, mourning the girl's grief.

Ryu looked up, hearing the voice, her eyes red and puffy. Her face was the uneven color of red and white, flushed and pale at the same time. Her lips trembled and tears insisted on spilling from her overflowing lids. She hiccupped pathetically at being discovered. She looked completely miserable.

"Do you want a hug?" Temari said, feeling like it was the only thing she could do.

Ryu's face twisted as fresh sobs climbed from the emotional cavity in her chest.

"Yeeeees!!" she wailed, her voice being beyond her control at the point.

Ryu got up and was quickly hugged by a caring friend. Temari wasn't exactly used to giving out hugs but she recognized the hurt in Ryu's eyes. She patted her back.

"Ryu, it'll be alright." She said, trying to comfort her. "Gaara's tough, a little poison won't get him."

"Yeah, but-!!" Ryu turned her tear streaked face upward.

"Temari, he looks dead, and he's all pale, and he isn't breathing, and they can't give him the antidote normally so we don't know if it will work right and if it doesn't he'll-he'll-he'll-!!"

It all came out in a frightened rush of worry, Ryu dissolving into sobs again as the thought of Gaara's never returning to consciousness raked her heart across coals. To never see his gentle smile again nearly broke it.

"And Kiba's in the hospital!!" she managed to get out. "That means he's in big trouble and-and I can't do anything!!"

She started to wail again, she couldn't help it. She felt horrible; completely powerless and useless. She looked at Temari.

"Temari, how could he?! How could that horrible boy do something like this! And I couldn't do anything!!"

After this last burst of self-pity, she seemed to quiet down, seemingly satisfied to just cry. And the only thing Temari could do was stand there and comfort her by letting her do so. They stood there for about five minutes when the older thought that maybe it was time to calm her down and prepare her for her fight.

"Ryu," she said, trying to softly encourage her. "Yes, it is horrible, but you have to have faith in Kiba and Gaara."

Ryu looked up, listening if still not weeping.

"They're tough, especially Gaara. You don't think he's nearly been killed already? And Kiba? Well, he's nearly died plenty of time too, and he's still alive. And I don't think either of them would want you to cry over them." She said.

Ryu bit her lip, trying to stop her tears. "W… Why?" she asked, her voice shaky.

"Because they'd want you to go out there and show that boy you're no push-over just because he screwed with your friends. I have a feeling Kiba would be pretty mad if he saw you like this, and would want you to tear that boy into pieces for what he's done. Gaara as well."

This small pep talk started to help Ryu think straight again. She still felt miserable over Kiba and Gaara but more or less angry with Aki. No, more like furious the more she thought about it. _He _had landed the in this situation, and she wanted him to know what it was like to be in that kind of pain. She whipped her face dry, and looked stubbornly at Temari.

"You're right," she took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. "I'm going out there and kicking that guy's ass for what he's done."

Ryu looked determinedly at her after this small self-assertion. Temari smiled at her.

"There's the Ryu I know!" she said happy that she wasn't an anxious mess anymore. At least on the outside.

Ryu gave her a tired smile, seemingly recovered from her emotional overload. Temari walked her back to Gaara's room so they could stay and keep an eye on him. Also, they could buoy each other's morale. Now all they had to do was wait for Ryu to get called up to fight.


	21. To Catch A Tiger

**Author's Note:** SWEET!! I finally have a different Windows on my dinosaur of a computer so I can use my flash drive on it!! I can transfer files right from my computer to the internet and stuff!! WHOO-HOO!! OKAY! Now, we can have a White Wings of Darkness explosion!! YES-NESS!! :D

- Ryu

**To Catch a Tiger**

**R**yu nervously tapped her foot up in the waiting area. She had gone up after seeing that were only five minutes left of the hour intermission Sirym had called for earlier. She had wanted to go look for Guy in the stands, but then the five minute thing happened, and Temari suggested that she go up and wait or else they might start to worry that she had gone missing. So now she could only pace back and forth, and squint over at the waiting area across the arena. A loathing for Aki start to boil inside her.

A sliver of purple started in her eyes as she started to plan out a strategy in her head. If everything went right, that poison weilder wouldn't know what hit him until he woke up in a bed next to Gaara and Kiba. For some reason she found that image funny, and laughed to herself, imagining the fun both Kiba and Gaara could have with him. Sirym then seemed to come out of nowhere, interrupting her musings.

"Ryu Akihara and Aki Yotsuba!! Come down here please!!"

Ryu's stomach freezed over like it had when she had called her down for her match with Hinata. She bit her lip, and walked down the stairs, into the bright sunlit arena. She looked around, seeing the sand everywhere and senbon sticking out of the ground. Her eyes landed on her opponent, who stood a little ways away from her. Two monsters roiled in her chest, roaring for some kind of revenge.

This was it. The last fight.

Sirym looked from one determined teenager to the other.

"Are you ready?" she asked. They both nodded, exchanging death glares.

Sirym held her hand up, and then swung it down.

"START!!"

The sudden roar and stamping of feet from the crowd nearly deafened her.

Ryu stood stalk still as did Aki, both of them just staring at one another, waiting for the other to flinch or make a move. A flicker of movement near Aki's side and senbon were suddenly coming her way. Another flash and Ryu had appeared a few feet behind him with a light trail of dust tumbling at her feet. Aki whirled around with matched speed, and Ryu zoomed away on wind quickened feet. She air-slid backwards, sending sharpened wind at him in quick slashes, using her hands to direct the attacks.

With the usual nimble gymnastics, Aki flipped into the air, dodging the glimmering slices of air. He landed on his feet, in a relaxed position. He smiled at her for missing. A purple braid then fell to the ground from his head. The boy blinked at the fallen piece of hair then looked up at Ryu. The dark-blonde smiled then put a hand out like Lee usually did, a wicked glimmer in her eyes. Up in the stands, Lee went nuts when he saw her do it.

"I taught her that!! Me!!" he hooted as he jumped in his seat.

The two teens were back to staring at one another silently. Ryu then sighed, deciding to use one of her strategies. She started to quickly form hand signs, the sleeves of her tan long coat flapping from the movement. Aki rushed forward with ready kunai. The wickedly smiling Ryu disappeared before he could get to her, melting away in the Silver Wind genjutsu.

Aki stopped where she had disappeared and looked around the area. There was nothing anywhere indicating where she had gone. The boy warily stood up straight, listening intently to everything around him. A hush seemed to have fallen around him. Where could she have gone?

Someone suddenly blowing in his ear made him whip around, throwing the poison-painted kunai. They hit the ground with a few thuds. He heard echoing giggling around him, seemingly coming from nowhere.

_I've got you... _A voice whispered in his head, sounding like Ryu.

He looked around himself, trying to figure out what in the world she had done.

_Are you ready for it? My Siren Song?_

Aki put his hands over his ears. _Get out of my head, you crazy wretch! _he thought at her as flowing music startle trickle in his head from unseen places.

_Oh, sorry; I don't listen to name-callers! _

An exceptionally sharp note shrieked in his head, making him cringe and nearly cry out.

_Or sadists!! _the voice snarled in his head.

The music came in a euphoric rush, making Aki lose the control he had been building. It all sounded so nice, like a warm wave of relief spun out of soft syphonies... Wait, wasn't he supposed to be doing something? Something about a release... He could hear faint singing in an etheral distance...

_If you want to live, then live..._

_If you want to go, let go..._

_Not afraid to dream..._

_Just sleep, sleep forever..._

His eyelids were getting strangely heavy, his body warming enough so he felt really loose. Aki tried to shake himself awake, but the it was all so soothing... Sirym watched with a nearly open mouth as the boy fell asleep on his feet. _Well, that's different,_ she thought. Everything looked peaceful on the battlefield.

Guy held his breath, his hands squeezing the edge of his seat. What was she going to do? TenTen smiled at both Lee and Neji. This was it!

An invisible Ryu crept closer to the dozing Aki, carefuling walking a foot above the ground to make she didn't disturb the dust beneath her. She looked into the side of his face. That had almost been a little too easy. In an instant, his mismatched eyes snapped open and he struck out at the air next to him, the wind giving a shout in pain. A thin slice of red appeared in the middle of nowhere.

"Why you little-!!" the wind growled, not caring if he heard her.

Aki started to throw all manner of weaponry at her, undoubtedly coated in some kind of poison. All he had to do was follow the line of red that had started to drip just a little. Ryu ripped the genjutsu off of herself and caught his weapons in the air, throwing them back at him by catching them mid-air or just sending them back via wind control. Metal clashed against metal, sending bright red sparks in all directions. Ryu had decided to just stop catching the poisoned weapons and set up a thick wind barrier.

The kunai and senbon were caught up in an invisible mesh. Aki stopped when he saw what was happening and decided to get some distance between him and a coming weapon attack. Ryu grabbed the thickened wind and threw the entire thing at the retreating Grass ninja. He skidded to a stop, making hand-signs as he did, and vines suddenly thrust themselves out of the ground, the poisoned metal landing with dull thuds. Ryu flew down to the ground, throwing cutting winds at the thick growth.

She started to attack it with wind sharpened punches and kicks, Guy attentively watching. He was glad to see that she had improved, and he smiled at Lee.

"Great job there, Lee," he grinned at him. Lee smiled back.

"Thankyou! It's nice to see that work pays off!"

"SSHHH!!"

The savage hiss had come out of nowhere but had sounded like it had come from the direction of Neji. His teammates looked at him, and he looked back.

"What?" he said reproachfully. "I'm watching something important."

Back on the battlefield, Ryu felt like giving up until the vines suddenly submerged themselves and five different Akis threw themselves out at her. She quickly launched herself into the air, thinking quickly how to get rid of the clones and find the real Aki. She spun on a foot, quickly creating a whirlwind of wind and sand from Gaara's battle. She then expanded the whirlwind as quickly as she could. The clones and the real Aki were instantly swept up in the fat tornado as she spun like a top in her whirlwind.

She sharpened the winds inside as thin as needles, and placed them everywhere in the roaring element. She thought she heard snippets of pain, but didn't really pay attention. She was too busy concentrating to make sure the tornado didn't decide to go in a different direction then where she wanted it. Like towards the stands.

She then came to a sudden stop, dispersing the wind into glimmering slices of air. She didn't have time to hear the reaction from the crowd as she looked around; Aki was nowhere to be seen. A hand suddenly came out of the ground, grabbing her ankle. Ryu squeaked as it tried to drag her under, and she immediately tried to take off from the ground. The hand held on, and a dusty Aki was pulled from the ground like a silent mandril.

He had several painted senbon in his other hand. He went to stab her with them, but Ryu's violent twisting and turning made it only possible to try and scratch her calves with them, rending her fishnet knee-highs to shreds. Ryu felt like she had a rabid dog stuck on her, and went in as many different directions as fast as she could to get him. It didn't feel like it was working though; it felt more like he was cuttng of the circulation in her left leg.

Konkuro was watching with rapt attention through the window, standing on a chair in Gaara's room to look out. Temari was still sitting by her brother's bed-side, holding his clammy hand. She looked up at her other younger brother.

"Well? How she doing?" she asked.

"Not so great..." he said, sounding anxious.

Ryu was finally able to fling Aki from his hold on her ankle, who rolled onto the ground. The girl followed him down, but then saw purple colored marbles being scattered from Aki's inert form. Purple smoke suddenly erupted everywhere around her.

"Ah!" Kankuro grabbed the top of his head in a quick panic. "No, no! Ryu! Get out of that smoke!!"

Gaara suddenly sat up in bed.

"Get out of what smoke?" he demanded. Temari thought she might faint from his sudden movement.

She quickly wrapped him in a bear hug, and Gaara let her, quickly hugging her back. He then gently pushed her away.

"Is Ryu fighting Aki?" he asked. Temari bit her lip, and nodded.

"Yeah, but..." She looked to Kankuro. "Well?"

Kankuro hadn't answered as his attention was being held captive outside.

"Yeeeea- NO! I mean, yes! Yes! She's doing better now!!"

The boy practically sounded bipolar as he watched anxiously outside the window. Gaara got out of bed, and stood on the chair next to Kankuro.

He saw a whirlwind of purple smoke reaching up to the sky then suddenly disperse into crystal clear air. Ryu fell to the ground on her knees, breathing heavily. Her legs were starting to tingle from the scratches of the senbon. Aki came at her in a quick frontal charge. Ryu forced herself to get up, and launched herself into the air.

She sent slices of sharpened wind his way, which he deftly dodged, the slicing hitting the ground, throwing screens of dust up into the air. The world suddenly soun violently to Ryu's senses, and she quickly made herself land. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. _Man, what's he put in this stuff?_ she thought. Aki was suddenly in front of her again, and she made herself get up.

With senbon in both hands, he started to punch and kick at her, throwing combinations at her as she blocked and dodged all of it. She flipped backwards, aiming her feet at his head. He pulled back just enough that her toes grazed his chin. But at least she had gotten some distance between him and her. She gathered her wind to throw a blast at him when a sudden stabbing in her legs stopped her.

The blinding pain blew her concentration away, and in that moment, Aki was in front of her once more, wrapping one of his hands around her neck. The other quickly stuck senbon along her left arm. Ryu's eyes snapped from purple to yellow to mauve in an instant, and she would of snarled a string of curses at the bot if it weren't for his choking her. She grabbed hold of his strangling arm, ignoring the pain in her left arm and the scramble in her body for air. She sent chakra to her arms in a giant rush.

Black steam started to come off of her covered arms, and a phantom tiger was suddenly pulling itself out of the khaki covered arms. It growled and snapped at Aki, and launched itself at him as soon as it was able. Aki fell away as he struggled with the spirit tiger, and Ryu collapsed to her knees once again, gasping for breath. She didn't bother to hurry and get up; the summoned spirit tiger would keep him occupied for a while. The roars of the tiger accompanied by the grunts of Aki was all she heard as she pulled the senbon out of her arm. Her entire body was starting to tingle. She would have to finish this quickly or else she wasn't going to last. She stood up, seeing that the summoned tiger was starting to fade back into the world it came from, and she took her long coat off.

"Yow!" Kankuro said when he saw the sight. He then jumped down from the chair. "Temari, I think it's your turn!"

He didn't feel like getting reprimanded today for thinking Ryu was hot. Temari stepped up, and thought she might fall over when she saw what Ryu was wearing underneath her long coat. It was a black, strapless bra with fishnet attached to the bottom that went down to her belt. She was covered to an extent, but it was a little risque. It served a purpose though; Ryu was covered from the waist up in inked writing.

There was a blank spot on her right shoulder. The spirit tiger finally faded to nothing, and a bloody Aki shakily stood up. There was a scrawling scratch across his right cheek and he was covered in gashes across his chest and arms. She could tell he was in a lot of pain, but was forcing himself to stand up, just like she was. _Well, a 'D' for determination,_ she thought.

Ryu crouched low on the ground, putting as much concentration into the summoning as she could. Black steam started to come off of her in small billows, claws and fangs flickering in and out of the steam. Aki whipped out a small scroll and opened it, another katana appearing in a cloud of grey smoke. Seven spirit tigers then sprang forward, roaring as they came off of Ryu's body from the ink. The writing was starting to fade as she sat cross-legged on the ground.

Six of the tigers ran forward to Aki while one stayed behind, curled around Ryu protectively. A fight between ghosts and a mortal erupted in the arena. Aki flipped and spun, hacking at the tigers as much as he could. The sword seemed to be having no effect on the whispy cats as their claws and teeth dipped in and out of the circle they had formed around him. They could cut him, but he couldn't even touch them.

The tiger curled around Ryu purred as it licked her wounds with an etheral tongue. The pain from the poison was starting to spread and she couldn't really feel her legs anymore. The spirit tiger rubbed the side of her face as she concentrated on keeping the other spirit tigers from killing Aki.

_**Dear child, do not fear; I will keep you standing for as long as your foe has strength to attack. But you have taken in much strong poison, and I can only do so much. You are own your own as soon as he falls...**_

Temari was nearly screaming for joy in Gaara's room, her brothers cheering with her as they watched Aki be torn to shreds.

"Whoo! Go, Ryu!! Put that viper on his ass!!" she shouted as she jumped up and down on the chair.

A medic nin poked his head in and saw that Gaara was standing on his own.

"Ah!" The spooked medical ninja hurried in. "What are you doing out of bed?! Sit back down!!"

"No!! Wait!! She's about to finish I think!!" Kankuro protested as he stood on tip-toe to look out the window.

The ghostly cats had started to fade, turning black to grey to grey-white smoke, barely there at all. Aki started to fall, blood trickling from his many wounds, and one of his hands went to his back pocket as he fell foward. His head had barely touched the ground as a ball stuffed with senbon rolled out of his outstretched hand.

_**Your enemy has fallen! I bid you farewell!**_

The tiger around Ryu vanished, and she stood up. Her eyes landed on the ball, and in that instant, panic and poison rushed forward. The ball exploded and the senbon flew in a metal rain. Ryu put up her wind barrier as quickly as she could, but the pain raged in her veins and she was stuck with senbon everywhere. Aki finally fell to the ground, and Ryu fell forward, catching herself if only to keep her head up.

Her teammates and friends held their breath as she swayed, covered in weapons that stuck out of her skin like porcupine needles. Sirym jumped in, checked Aki's pulse, looked to the nearly fainting Ryu, and put her hand up.

"Ryu Akihara is the winner!!" she announced.

A wave of relief went through the girl as she let herself go. Guy, Lee, and TenTen were jumping around in a happy circle as Neji let himself smile the smallest of smile. A small rave was in process in one of the medial rooms in the stadium. Ryu let the noise from the crowd turn to static as the world faded to quiet darkness. She was _really _tired...


	22. Hospital Visits: Ryu's Story

Author's Note: Wow

**Author's Note:** Wow! What a fight, huh? Well, time to take it down a couple notches from the violence and have some buddy time for Ryu and her friends. Even if the title is pretty obvious; I ran out of poetic juice. I'll have to go to the store and pick some up along with some icecream. Then... It'll be time for something else to happen... I'm not going say what though! I'll keep you good and guessing! XD

- Ryu

**Hospital Visits**

Ryu's Story

_**R**__yu blinked as she was back in her mother's kitchen. Her mother's long black hair spilled over her back and rippled past her waist. The kitchen glowed with a luminous yellow from the warped sunshine. Her mother smiled at her as she had just explained that she had been looking for her._

_"Well then, maybe you can help me dry these dishes?" she asked._

_"Okay,"_

_She skipped over to the sink, and grabbed a dishcloth. She stepped onto the footstool so she could reach the counter which was wet with warm bubbles. She was ten. She had started to dry a bowl when a sud of bubbles dripped onto her nose from a purple-colored fingernail. She shook her head to her mother's contagious laughter; it sounded just like her own laugh._

_"Hey!"_

_Her mother giggled. "I'm sorry; you just look so cute covered in bubbles!"_

_Ryu flicked her wrist and a spray of bubbles splashed her mother, making her shriek happily. Bubbles filled the air in a matter of seconds as the joyful couple threw them at one another. The doorbell rang and Ryu hopped off the stool._

_"I'll get it!" she chirped._

_She wobbily air slid to the door, the slick air hard to control under her small feet. She opened the door and looked up at a tall woman with dark brown hair and green eyes._

_"Hi June!" The woman smiled warmly._

_"Hey there, cutie! Where's your mom?" June said merrily._

_"In the kitchen. Come on in!"_

_June stepped in and walked to the kitchen with her. What happened next was a happy blur as her mother and June talked while everyone did dishes. The doorbell rang once again, and the world suddenly darkened, the luminous light turning to grey shadows. Ryu was suddenly thirteen in her mind, but her body was still ten._

_"NO!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "DON'T OPEN THE DOOR!!"_

_But the dream-June didn't hear her. She opened the door with a smile, but it disappeared in a quick instant. She turned to Ryu in a desperate panic, fear scrawled across her face._

_"RUN!!" she shouted._

_Then a kunai knife flew into her temple._



**R**yu sat up in bed with a fast jerk, her hair on end and in a blind panic. Dark surroundings met her gaze. White curtains. White sheets.

"EEEE-YAAAAAH!!" she screamed in extreme panic.

Terror exploded in her chest, nearly paralyzing her as she fearfully kicked the sheets off of herself. Something tugged at her arm at she looked down in fright. It was an i.v., the realisation spreading the panic even more as she realised she was in some sort of medical room. She snatched it out of her wrist, small drops of blood falling onto her pale skin.

She slid out of the white bed, prepared to burst through the door and get out of wherever in the world she was now. Someone else burst through the door before she could though.

"Ryu! Ryu!" Tsunade ran into the room and caught her before she could run. "What's the matter?"

Shizune and two other medical ninjas followed her as Tsuande kept a hold on the freaked girl. Panic was still fresh in her eyes as she looked around, making Tsunade wonder where the sudden fear had come from.

"Wha-wha-wha?" Ryu babbled as she still looked around. "Where am I?!"

"You're in the Konoha hospital," the hokage gently told her.

"I...? What?" Ryu calmed down a little as she looked around again, more slowly. "Oh..."

She then looked down on her quickly bleeding arm. "Oh."

Ryu then wobbled a little bit as the world swam dangerously. She held her head, trying to stop the dizzy spell.

"Ooh-whoo... I... Think I need to lie down." she said weakly.

Tsunade led her to the bed and put the i.v. back in her arm. Shizune went to the window and opened the curtains. Ryu squinted in the now bright room. So, she was safe. Thank God... She looked at Tsunade.

"So, what happened?" she asked as the hokage took her pulse.

"You collapsed from all the poison you took in. You've been out cold for two weeks now."

"Two weeks?!"

Tsunade put a hand to Ryu's forehead, brushing the scruffy dark blonde hair aside.

"Yep, we've been waiting for you to wake up. You've got a lot of people worried about you too." she said. She took out a pencil and a pad of paper and wrote down some numbers.

Ryu swung her legs over the side of the bed. "So, when can I leave?" she asked, eager to get out of the hospital.

Tsunade gave her a stern look. "When I say you can." she said.

The girl drooped in disapointment. She hated hospitals. She didn't want to be stuck here for who knew how long until the poison ran through her system. That's when she thought of Gaara and Kiba.

"Oh! What about Kiba?" she quickly asked before they could leave. "And Gaara? Are they okay?"

Tsunade nodded. "Gaara has been up since after you won your match and Kiba's been fine for about a week." she said. Ryu smiled. "Now, lie back down so you can get your rest."

"Okay!"

Ryu lied back down on the bed and watched the door close. She waited a moment then, got back out of bed. She searched the room thoroughly, opening the closet to find her clothes and flip-flops. She quickly got dressed in her normal tank-top and shorts, and took an extra blanket down. She threw the blanket on her bed, and then went to window.

She quickly threw the window open and breathed the clean air from outside, enjoying the fresh smell much more than the sterilized cleanliness in the room. She pulled the i.v. pole over to her, and she kneeled down in front of the window to watch the bright day go by. The dream still haunted her at the precipices of her consciousness, and she pushed it away as much as she could. She was here to get well, not dwell on old memories of grief and terror.



**L**ater on in the day, while Ryu lay awake in bed, she heard shouting and a scuffle outside her door. She sat up, ready to rip the i.v. out of her arm again and jump out the window. But then the gaggle of voices outside her door sounded pretty familiar.

"Come on! Just let us in!! We're her team for goodness' sake!!" A perky girl's voice.

"Right! Now, please let us pass!" A polite sounding young man.

"We have permission from Lady Tsunade; she said we could see her." And an older man's voice.

Okay, that made TenTen, Lee, and Guy. But where was Neji...? Oh, there he was...

"She's supposed to be resting. She can't do that with the two of you sounding like a heard of elephants at her door!"

She giggled. Oh, Neji; the voice of reason that would mostly likely fall on three pairs of excited and deaf ears. She heard the nurse outside relent, and the four were allowed to burst in. Lee immediately bounced up to her.

"Ryu-kun!! You're awake!!" he said this while nearly jumping up and down for joy.

TenTen pushed past him and gave her a light hug.

"Ooh! We were so worried!!" she said. She then looked into her face. "Oh gosh, you're really pale! Have you eaten anything?"

Ryu shook her head. "They wanna make sure that my stomach's awake enough for me to eat so I don't throw up or anything," she said. An angry growl was suddenly heard.

TenTen laughed. "Sounds like it's awake to me!"

Guy clapped his hands. "Perfect!!"

Lee turned to Guy and smiled mischeivously. "Did you bring it?" he asked. Guy nodded and smiled back.

"You betchya!"

Ryu saw Guy take off the bag he was carrying and unzip it. Funny, why did she have an impending sense of doom all of a sudden? She nervously looked to Lee, who was still grinning. What had they brung? Did she even want to know? Guy finally took out a clouded up plastic bowl and a spoon.

"Ta-dah! Food worthy enough for a sick youth!!" he declared while presenting the tuberwere bowl to her. Ryu looked from the steaming bowl to her teacher.

"What's in it?" she asked, anxiously wondering if she should ask such a thing.

Lee's smile somehow got bigger. Him and Guy sure were having a fun time with this. But why did it have to be at her expense?!

" 'Sick Youth' curry!" he said joyfully. "The best food there is to make you feel better! It's what I ate when I was in the hospital."

"And you were back on your feet in no time! With Lady Tsunade's help of course," he said while putting a hand on his shoulder. "So, eat up Ryu!"

Ryu opened the bowl and looked at the steaming mess of spices, orange colored sauce, and white rice. She looked up at TenTen and Neji, who had moved off to the side. TenTen cupped a hand to her mouth and mouthed, "Be careful!!" Neji nodded in agreement with her, looking a little worried. _O-kay! How hot is this stuff?_she thought while picking up the spoon. She unsurely scooped some up, and paused before putting it in her mouth. Guy blinked, looking a little worried.

"What's the matter?" he asked anxiously. "Do you feel okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I feel fine. It's just... Do you have any water on you?" she said.

"I'll go get some," said TenTen, and she left with Neji to get a bottle of water.

While they were gone, Ryu tentively sniffed the curry, and the smell practically singed her nostrils.

"Waugh!!" she exclaimed, cupping her nose. "Guy!! What's in this?!"

Her voice sounded comically nasally as she asked. Lee and Guy looked at one another, as if the answer was obvious. They started to tick ingrediants off their fingers.

"Ground pepper..."

"Red peppers..."

"Ginger..."

"A little salt..."

"Chili powder..."

"Some wasabi, I think..."

"Wasabi?!" Ryu balked. "I hate wasabi!!"

Lee looked anxiously at her, looking like he hoped what she just said wasn't true and that she was joking. "You do? You don't like spicy things?" he asked.

Ryu shook her head. "No, it's not that. I like spicy things, I just hate wasabi." She made a face. "Tastes like motor oil! Yegh!!"

TenTen and Neji came back in with a bottle of water. "Got it!" she said.

All eyes were on Ryu again as they waited for her to eat some of the 'Sick Youth' curry. She picked the spoon back up, and picked up a spoonful about the size of the end of her pinky. She nervously put a little bit of that on her tongue. It didn't taste that bad, but the distinct tang of wasabi wanted to maker her retch. Good Lord, how she hated the stuff!

Lee encouraged her to eat a bigger bite since it seemed the curry hadn't lit her mouth on fire yet. She took a bigger spoonful and popped it in her mouth. It felt fine for a few seconds, but then spices suddenly exploded in her mouth. Ryu yelped it was so hot. The curry didn't even have any flavor anymore it was so tremendously hot.

Her eyes watered, and she started to cough. She motioned frantically to TenTen.

"Water!! Water!!" she rasped between choked coughs.

She quickly came over and handed the bottle over to her. Ryu ripped the top off and started to hastily gulp water. She finally stopped after draining half the bottle, and glared at Guy.

"Guy!! I just got over poisoning and you give me this!? Are you out of your mind?!" she nearly shouted at her teacher.

Guy smiled broadly and gave Lee the thumbs up.

"It worked!!" they said in unison, happy at something she failed to see.

She blinked. "It's supposed to scald my intestines?"

"It's supposed to bring your energy back!" Lee said. Both of them smiled once again.

"So, it worked! If you have the energy to yell at me, that means you'll be out of here in no time!!" Guy proclaimed, proud of his accomplishment.

Ryu looked around them at TenTen, who just shrugged. Yup, that was Guy-sensei and Rock Lee at their best. She would of furthered the matter of them trying to give her eternal heartburn, but decided not to. It just proved how worried they had all been, especially Guy. She sighed heavily.

"Ah! She's losing it already!! Quick give her more!!"

"What?! Augh-!!"

The spoon was quickly shoved in her mouth again, and she swallowed the burning curry since she didn't want to hurt Guy's feelings by spitting it out. She knew it was all because they cared, but why did it have to drive her crazy?! Luckily, after a few more spoonfuls of fire, the nurse came in and decided Ryu had had enough excitement for one day, and asked everyone to leave. They filed out, Neji the last one to leave. It seemed they had all left whe he stepped back in.

"Ryu," he said. She sat back up from her quick rest. "I hope you get better soon."

"Uh... Thankyou, Neji. I hope so too." she said. He then left.

Ryu was shocked. Neji had actually said something nice to her. _Wow,_ was all she could really think at that. She then lied back down in bed, pleasantly tired from her friends coming to see her. A nap seemed kind of nice right about now.


	23. Hospital Visits: Kiba's Story

Hospital Visits

**Author's Note:** When I started writing this, I didn't realise how long it was until after I was near the end so I decided to break it down into three parts. It makes it easier on my hand. ;; Yeah, I can only type with one hand; I just never learned how to use the other one. I'm really fast though! About 300 words a minute! Anyway, Happy Reading!!

-Ryu

**Hospital Visits**

Kiba's Story

**K**iba stepped into the bustling hospital and looked around the entrance. It was the day after he had gotten the news from Hinata through Neji that Ryu had woken up. He had tried the day before, but had been turned away by the nurses. She had already been visited by her team, and they didn't want her to become too tired from visitors. He was haphazardly holding onto a bouquet of sunflowers from the Yamanaka's shop.

Ino had tried to help him balance the large yellow flowers with some others, but in the end he had decided to just take her the sunflowers. Akumaru was standing beside him along with Al and Raikera. He really hoped they would let them into her room. But considering he had woken up in a room jammed full of dogs and family, he was pretty sure they could let in an orange tabby cat and a tiger cub in. He looked down at Raikera; you couldn't really call her a cub anymore.

He didn't know what Ryu had been feeding her, but she was getting really big. And she was going to keep growing too, or so her giant paws proclaimed. It would be interesting to watch her grow along with Akumaru. Thankfully, the nurse let them all in and Kiba walked in to see Ryu sitting on her bed, working on a word search.

"Hey there, yard-bird!!" he said cheerfully.

Ryu immediately perked up. "Kiba!!"

She jumped out of bed, and pounced on him in a large hug. He squeezed back, picking her up in the process. She squealed in her giddyness, and he laughed, happy that she was up and awake. She looked at him, her eyes bright and full of energy.

"I'm so happy to see you!!" she said, nearly bouncing in place with excitement. "I was really worried about you!!"

Kiba looked at her, exasperated.

"_You_ were worried about _me_?" he said. He scrubbed the top of her head with his palm. "I'm not the one who was out cold for two weeks!!"

Ryu laughed again, but suddenly started to feel light-headed and dizzy again. She started to sway.

"Whoa!" She stuck her arms out, trying to balance again. "Ah!"

Kiba quickly slid behind her, grabbing her wrists and guiding her back over to the bed.

"Maybe you should sit down again," he said, concerned about her relapsing.

Ryu tried to shake him off. "I feel fine!" she protested, but sat down on the floor in front of her bed.

Once sitting, she was promptly attacked by the animals. Akumaru jumped onto her lap, and Al climbed onto her shoulders, purring loudly and rubbing the side of her face and neck. Ryu giggled at the attention. Raikera jumped onto the bed and headbutted the back of her head, growling for attention. Ryu turned and petted her wild pet, scratching the top of her head.

The tiger curled around her mistress, and Al tucked himself around her neck. Ryu sighed heavily, both from being tired and a little dizzy but more from the happiness of being surrounded by those who loved her. Kiba was included in this of course. He sat down next to her, Akumaru moving onto his lap when he did. He just wanted to grab her and hug her for the half hour he had. The last week had been a living hell for him with conflicting news coming from the hospital every day about her condition.

The only reliable info he could get was from Hinata since she lived with Neji, but he didn't like asking her to talk to one of the people she was terrified of her. But it seemed they were getting along better, according to her. Would it be okay if he held her a little bit, just to reassure himself of her safety? Ryu looked up at him, concerned.

"Seriously though, I thought I was going to lose it after your fight," she said, the worry showing in her eyes.

"Really?"

"Yes! Kiba, you're one of my best friends!! Of course I was worried!!" she said, almost offended. Kiba laughed.

"Well, I was pretty worried about you too, you know," he said. He then threw chance to the wind, and put his arm around her.

Ryu surprised him by inching closer and leaning into his side. He looked down at her, the lightest blush creeping into his face. He then saw the lines under eyes. She sighed wearily.

"I'm... So tired..." she said as Raikera snuggled her head in her lap.

"Then maybe I should go," Kiba said. She lightly grabbed his wrist.

"No, I want someone here..."

"Okay..."

They sat there together, letting the quiet fall softly around them. It was nice to have a quiet moment together, especially since they were both so tired from poison. Kiba sighed lightly as he laid his head on top of her's. He was glad she was awake and safe.


	24. Hospital Visits: Gaara's Story

Author's Note: Okay, say it with me

**Author's Note:** Okay, say it with me! "Awwww!!" Yeah, I decided to end on a cute note with the last one. squeezes chapter So sweet and cuddly!! So, who's ready for more fluff? Happy Reading!!

-Ryu

**Hospital Visits**

Gaara's Story

**G**aara wandered around downtown Konoha, trying to follow the directions Naruto had given him for the Yamanaka's flower shop. He had decided to try and visit Ryu again today. He had been trying since to get in ever since Temari had told him she had woken up, but had been turned away each time. He was determined to get in today though, and the least the blasted nurse could do was deliver some flowers for him. He finally found the shop and quickly walked in, a small bell jingling as he went in.

He saw a blonde girl sitting at the counter along with Sakura, who was leaning against it. It seemed they were in the middle of a conversation. Sakura looked up and smiled friendly-like at him.

"Hi, Gaara," she said.

"Hello, Sakura," he said.

"You here for some flowers?" the blonde girl asked. He nodded.

Sakura smiled again. "Wait, let me guess. For Ryu, right?"

Gaara blinked. "Yes, how did you know?"

The blonde girl jumped off her stool and walked around to the front.

"Because Kiba, Neji, Lee, and TenTen came in for some flowers for her yesterday," she said. "Do you want some help finding some so you don't get any repeats?"

Gaara thought a moment while looking at all the colorful flowers gathered in the shop. He remembered that both Temari and Kankuro had told him to get roses for her though his sister had said to get yellow and his brother had told him to get red. Then again, Temari had swatted the top of his head after he had said that so...

"Help would be appreciated," he said.

"O-kay! Let's get some flowers!" she said as she walked over, her blonde hair moving with her movements. "Oh, my name's Ino by the way."

She started to lead him down an aisle filled with fresh-cut flowers.

"Since Kiba and Guy's team already got her a bunch, that means you can't bring sunflowers, orchids, daffodils, or carnations. So this leaves cosmos, cherry blossom sticks, roses, asters, mums, and black-eyed susans..."

She pointed at all the flowers as she named them, and Gaara stopped to look at all of them. They were nice, but they didn't seem...bright enough. He wanted something cheerful and energetic, like Ryu. He wanted something that would make her smile and forget the weariness the poison inflicted. The cherry blossoms looked nice, but they weren't energetic enough...

A splash of yellow caught his eye, and he stopped to look at the flowers that had caught his attention. They looked like the cherry blossoms, but were yellow. Ino had gone off into her own world of flower arranging, thinking of what could go with the flowers she had just named when his voice brought her back down to earth.

"What are these?" he asked. She turned and looked to the flowers he was looking at.

"Oh, late forsythia," she said. Sakura came around to look at the yellow flowers.

"I thought forsythia bloomed in the early spring." She said. "How did you get some in late summer?"

"We got them from the Mist village. They had a wicked late spring tihs year so they sent us some forsythia to make up for the lilies..."

Gaara picked a stick up and looked at it. The flowers were small, but bright and bursting with energy. Just like Ryu. He turned to Ino.

"I'll take a few of these. You may add whatever you want to it so long as it looks nice." he said curtly.

"Okay. How many do you want?"

Gaara looked at the bin of flowers, and grabbed about eight boughs of forsythia. "This many."

Ino took the forsythia from him. "Alright. Wait at the counter and I'll ring you up when they're ready." she said.

Gaara walked away, leaving her to pick the accompanying flowers on her own. Ino looked at Sakura as she went along picking the flowers that would go with the forsythia.

"Well, he's not one for social grace, is he?" she mumbled to her.

Sakura tried not to giggle. "That's Gaara, Ino. He's probably just worried about Ryu. You saw how Kiba was yesterday." she said.

"That's true..."

Ino picked up some cherry blossom sticks as she chatted with Sakura about normal things, putting them around the forsythia. She then took some bachelor's buttons and put them in also. She then added some long green ferns, sticking them in everywhere. The goal was to make the forsythia stand out since those were the flowers he had picked. Once she was finished, she brought the bouquet up to him.

"Well, what do you think?" she asked him.

The light green eyes traveled around the flowers.

"Nice," he said. "Thankyou for you help."

Ino smiled. "I wouldn't be in here if I couldn't help people." she said. She then rang the flowers up and he left, saying his goodbyes to Sakura.

He felt kind of proud of himself; he had been able to get flowers for a friend without screwing up. He started his walk to the hospital, careful of the people as he went. He didn't want anything to happen to the flowers. He was walking across one of the many bridges in Konoha when he suddenly heard the quick clacking of running feet and the manic barking of a dog.

He quickly turned to see Naruto being dragged by a huge dog, both of which were coming straight at him.

"AAAH!! GAARA, LOOK OUT!!" the blonde shouted, but it was too late.

The three collided, Gaara's sand automatically rushing around him, but he was knocked over anyway. He shook his head after falling onto the concrete then noticed there were petals in the air. He jumped up in a panic to see his bouquet floating away in the river. He stared at the water for a moment, then let his head hit the bridge's hand rail.

"THUD!"

Naruto moaned as he got himself out from under the dog.

"Ugh, sorry, Gaara. This guy's really strong..." He then noticed the aura of gloom that surrounded his friend. "Gaara? What's the matter?"

"The flowers..." That was all he could really say as his voice dripped with depression.

Naruto cocked his head. "Flowers? Wha-OH!! The flowers for Ryu!! Oh, Gaara, I'm so sorry!!" he said quickly, trying to sweep away the hurt.

Gaara didn't really know what to say. He just kind of wanted to stand here with his head pressed against the weathered wood. He forced himself to straighten up, feeling pretty much numb. Naruto immediately picked up on this and looked around himself. A few sticks of forsythia and cherry blossoms lay to the side, if not a little beaten up.

He picked them up.

"Wait! I found some!" he said, trying to give him some hope as he handed them to Gaara.

Relief spread in Gaara as he took the remaining flowers from his friend. One of the two forsythia sticks broke in two in his hand, Naruto flinching when it did. _Oh man... _Gaara gave him the flattest look he could.

"Thanks, Naruto..." he said tonelessly.

"Eheh... I'm really sorry about the flowers, Gaara," he said, feeling pretty bad.

Gaara sighed heavily. "These will be alright... I think..."

Naruto thought a second then an idea struck him in the head as his friend walked away.

"Wait!! I know how to fix this!!" He ran forward, grabbing Gaara's arm as he went.

Gaara didn't really protest as he was suddenly being dragged by Naruto to some unknown location. This tended to happen about three times a month, if not a week. But he was supposed go see Ryu, not get sucked into one of Naruto's crazy ideas!

"Uh, Naruto? I really-"

"Don't worry! This'll only take a minute, I promise!"

"But your minutes tend to be two hours!"

"_This_ will only be half an hour tops!"

Gaara let himself be lead to the residential district. They came to a stop at a pink house with a small stone porch. Naruto walked up the steps, and knocked on the door. A moment later it was opened a little old woman. She smiled when she saw Naruto.

"Hello, Naruto, it's nice to see you. Who's your friend?" she asked kindly. She looked gently at Gaara.

"This is Gaara. Gaara, this is Ms. Antari." said Naruto, gesturing towards the woman.

"It's nice to meet you," Gaara said politely. How was this going to help fix his flowers?

"Ms. Antari, do you think you can do my friend a favor? You see, his girlfriend's in the hospital and I wrecked his flowers. Can you help us?" Naruto said this with the most sincerity Gaara had heard out of him since the blonde had kicked his ass last year during the Sound Invasion.

He would of said something about the girlfriend part, but he hadn't wanted to interrupt the proposal that might make Ryu happy. The woman smiled.

"Wait here, you two." she said, and she went back inside

Gaara looked at Naruto. "Ryu isn't my girlfriend, Naruto."

"She isn't? Well, could of fooled me!" said Naruto while rubbing the back of his head.

"But it did."

"It's an expression Gaara..."

Gaara looked up at the pink house with the high wooden fence surrounding the backyard. "How do you know this woman?"

"Oh, I saved her cat from drowning in the river. But she's got this _huge_ garden! If anyone can make you another bouquet, it's her." said Naruto encouragingly.

A moment later and the door opened. The woman had a good sized bouquet of orange and yellow lilies with some red roses. She handed them gently to Gaara.

"I hope your girlfriend feels better soon."

"Thankyou. Me too."

They all said their goodbyes and Naruto and Gaara started to walk back to the bridge.

"Thankyou for the help, Naruto." he said. The blonde gave him a big smile.

"Aw, it's the least I could do. I mean, I was the one who wrecked the other ones." said Naruto.

"Actually, it was more the dog's fault then anything."

"Dog? What d- AH!!"

Naruto took off down the road. "I forgot the dog!!"

Gaara watched his friend run down the road, and laughed quietly to himself. He really was funny. He resumed his walk to the hospital, and was there in about five minutes. He crossed his fingers as he asked if he could see Ryu Akihara. To his relief, the nurse said yes and he went swiftly up the stairs.

He made sure to knock quietly on her door, and then gently opened it.

"Ryu?"

The room was softly dark, and he saw that she was asleep. He tip-toed in so he could have a better look at her. She was deathly pale, just like Temari had been the first couple of weeks after the second exam. He looked to the table near the window, and saw the other flowers that Ino had mentioned. The sunflowers were turned toward what little sun was leaking through the closed curtains and the two orchids wavered delicately from the light breeze.

He couldn't help but go over to see who they were from. The sunflowers were from Kiba, the carnations were from TenTen, the daffodils were from Lee, and the orchids were from Neji. But where had the purple and yellow irises come from? They stood in a fogged crystal vase with no name tag, and he looked closely at them. They seemed off for some reason.

He put a hand among the stems, feeling around the plants carefully. A flash of leather slipped past one of his fingers and he quickly grabbed whatever had gone past his hand. He pulled out a long, slim, green snake with yellow stripes going up it's body. It was a harmless garter snake, but it's eyes were a dark purple, something unheard of to him. He looked among the irises again, seeing more slender figures in the vase, all with different colored eyes.

He looked over at the sleeping Ryu then back at the snake in his hand. Better to be safe then sorry...



**R**yu gently woke up from her nap. She had woken up really tired that morning, probably from all the energy used in her excitement about Kiba's visit. Al and Raikera were staying with him upon her request now. She had decided to take an early nap and had accidentally slept through lunch it seemed. Bright yellow and orange caught her eye and she looked over at the table next to her bed.

It was a bouquet of orange and yellow lilies along with some wonderfully red roses. There was a note next to the flowers and she picked it up to read it.

_I came to see you, but you were asleep so I left the_

_flowers here for you. I hope you like them._

_ Get well soon,_

_ Gaara_

She smiled, and looked at the flowers. Roses were her favorite next to sunflowers. She looked up at the curtained window and got up to open them for the straining sunflowers. She opened the curtains, and looked at all the flowers that had sprouted on the table.

Carnations from TenTen... Daffodils from Lee... She nearly squealed when she saw the orchids; they were so small and delicate and... From Neji?! Was it just her, or had he done a 180 degree turn about his attitude toward her?

She paused when she saw the empty fogged crystal vase. It was perfect for Gaara's flowers. She undid the pink bow that held them together and put them in. She turned around to get back into bed when she heard a nurse knocking on the door.

But she hadn't noticed the three drops of cherry red blood on the floor before the vase.


	25. Of Birthday Cakes and Gravestones

**Author's Note:** Hello everybody! Time for the drama to start! So, here we go! Happy Reading!!

- Ryu

**Of Birthday Cakes and Gravestones**

_**T**__he suddenly dead June fell to the floor as Ryu screamed with her high-pitched child's voice. She was suddenly grabbed from behind and her mother's brown eyes felt like they would swallow her whole with the urgency and fear in them._

_"Ryu!!" her mother whispered desperately as she pulled her over to the stairs. Crashes of wood on metal was heard as unseen people broke into the house._

_"I want you to run upstairs and hide-"_

_"B-b-but June!! And-"_

_"-And no matter what you hear, stay exactly where you are!"_

_"But Mom!! I-I- can't-!! I-!!"_

_"Ryu!!" Her mother nearly shook her, her eyes filled with urgency, desperate for her to just do as she was told. "NOW!!"_

_Ryu nearly tripped on the first step, looking back at her crouching mother near the stairs. Teardrops slipped down her face as she saw her looking angrily determined at the hallway to the door. She then disappeared with inhuman speed and Ryu went all the way up to the top of the stairs. The stairs opened up to her room. The window was open, and she stole over to it to look out. _

_There were people outside garbed in light armour. Silver swords and weapons gleamed in their hands. A headband with a single note flashed in the dimmed light. Someone looked up and Ryu quickly fell on the floor. She thought she heard a scuffle downstairs; grunts and cries of pain drifted up the stairs along with footsteps. The little girl fearfully looked around the room, trying to think of a place to hide. _

_A shadow appeared on the wall of the stairwell and Ryu threw herself under her bed. The girl curled up under the bed, small balls and toys greeting her eyes. She felt herself breathing fantastically hard and covered her mouth with a hand. Pale feet in black sandals stepped onto the floor. The person started to walk around, opening her closet and the sound of ruffled clothes reached her ears. _

_She watched the feet move around everywhere, trying to breathe as slowly and quietly as she could. The feet then stopped once more in front of the stairs, and descended down them. Ryu gently let her head hit the floor, breathing a sigh of relief in her head. Whoever they were, they hadn't found her._

_A hand suddenly grabbed her ankle, and she was dragged, screaming in terror, from under the bed. Red eyes against white china skin suddenly met her gaze._

_"There you are..."_



**R**yu wake with a start, her heart pounding and covered in a cold sweat. She then looked quickly around her apartment to see that it was still night. Her clock gleamed in the dark, announcing that it was around four am. She whiped her brow and looked to where Al was sleeping at the foot of her bed. Today was the day.

She had dropped Raikera off at Gaara's house the day before to find them moving out. They had only been staying in the village for the exams, but were leaving in about four to three weeks. Ryu swung her legs over the side of her bed and picked up her messenger bag. She checked and re-checked her messenger bag as she packed at four am the next morning. The house was softly dark as she prepared for the journey to the temple.

She packed an extra pair of flip-flops and kunai knives. She then looked down at the waiting orange tabby cat that had been with her ever since she had set foot in the apartment. She smiled at him, petting his head.

"Ready to go, Al?" she asked him. He purred happily in response.

She picked up her bag and her keys, and opened the door. Al trotted out and she locked the door behind herself. She took a breath of cold air. She walked down the stone stairs and started down the street.

She then turned the corner, headed for the northern road out of the village.



**K**iba walked down Kutchki street with a bounce in his step. He was going to go see Ryu without there being a fight in the recent past or a nurse to ask if he could go in. Akumaru panted happily as he walked in the sunbathed street. He couldn't wait to see Al and Raikera away from the hospital. He noticed a boy further down the street, looking around a little confused at his surroundings. He had a bucket hat and round sunglasses on as he looked from a piece of paper to the shops around him. Kiba thought he smelled the distinct scent of a doberman coming from him. Akumaru stopped suddenly and then took off running to the boy before Kiba could say anything.

The puppy ran up to the kid, yipping and pawing at his knees. The boy seemed startled at first but then laughed. Kiba jogged over.

"Sorry, about that." he said. The boy laughed, pointed canines flashing in the sun.

"It's okay, I like dogs." He smiled toothily. "But do you think you can help me?"

Kiba nodded. "Sure."

The boy showed him the piece of paper. "I'm looking for this adress. I found the street, but I can't find the house." he said.

Kiba took the paper and read the scratchy handwriting. "141 Kutchki St., second apartment-hey!" he read aloud. He looked at the boy. "You know Ryu?"

The boy looked surprised. "Yeah! Do you?"

"Uh-huh!"

The boy looked from Akumaru to him, and then laughed. Akumaru perked up, recognizing the laughter from a few months ago. He smiled.

"You must be Kiba Inuzuka, and Akumaru." he said. He took off his sunglasses, revealing gleaming lemon yellow eyes. "I'm Inu."

Kiba stared at him for a little bit. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Inu. Ryu told me all about you." he said.

"She told us all about you too."

"Us? You mean Dr.Masuda's here too?"

Inu nodded. "Yup. We're here to visit her. Today's her birthday!" he said, excited.

Kiba stood there for a moment, dumbfounded. Then he seemed to explode with noise.

"WHAT?! Her birthday?! She never told me her birthday was coming up!! I don't even have a present for her!! What am I gonna do?!" he nearly howled.

Inu tried to calm him down. "It's okay!! It's okay!! She didn't even know we were coming so you can pretend you brought us!!" he said. "The Doc's already got the cake and stuff. I'm pretty sure Ryu won't mind anyway since she didn't tell you."

Kiba bit his lip. "Oh, alright. I can always get her something later on too." he said. "Come on, I'll take you to her apartment. Man, she'll be really surprised to see you."

He led Inu to the pharmacy, pointing out the stone stairs that led to the apartment above it and then walked up to the porch. He knocked on the door, Inu nearly dancing where he stood with giggling excitement. Ryu would be _so_ surprised to see him and the Doc!! They waited a moment, and then Kiba knocked again.

"Ryu? You there?" he called. He went to the window and looked in.

There was no one there, not even Al or Raikera were present. The apartment looked awfully clean too. Usually Ryu left some dishes after breakfast, but nothing was there. The cats' bowls weren't down on the floor either. Akumaru whined next to him, worried. Inu looked up at him.

"Where is she?" he asked with his kid voice.

"She's probably at training already." he said. He looked at Inu. "Where's Dr. Masuda right now?"

"Oh, he wanted to go see her teacher, Guy Might."

"Then the surprise has already happened. But she'll be happy to see you anyway."

Inu grinned. "Okay! Let's go see Ryu!!" He quickly skipped down the stairs, holding onto his hat.

Kiba followed him, thinking about what was under the bucket hat. If that hat fell off and reavealed the soft, black dog ears coming out of the kid's head, who knew what the villagers' reaction would be. He caught up to the kid, taking off his coat as he did so.

"Here, you might want to wear this," he said. He nodded at the hat. "The wind around here could blow that off in half a second."

Inu put a hand to his hat, putting his sunglasses back on.

"Oh, I didn't think of that. Thanks."

He took the coat, and put the hood on top of his hat. He took the hat off once the hood was up. Kiba thought he saw the slightest hint of fur on top of his head, but it blended in with the fur of the coat. The sleeves flapped as he walked, the bottom of the coat nearly reaching his knees. The boy looked at him above his dark sunglasses, his eyes glowing in the light shadows from the hood being bigger then his own head.

He could barely see out of it to begin with.

"How did you know about my ears?" Inu asked.

"Oh, Ryu showed me a picture of you."

"So, you know what the Doc looks like?"

"Uh... A guy with brown hair and old-fashioned glasses, right?"

"Yup! That's him!" Inu said, smiling broadly.

Kiba found he liked this kid. He actually thought him pretty brave considering what Ryu had told him about him. Here he was, half-demon and half-human, and he still smiled and laughed like a regular little kid.

"Hey, Inu. How old are you?" he asked

"Seven. But I'm gonna be eight this winter." Inu said, showing him his hands with the fingers pointed up.

They continued to chat and get to know one another as they walked to the training ground.



**R**yu walked at a normal pace down the sunny dirt road. Al trotted next to her, glad to be outside and not stuck in the house while his mistress went out on an adventure. He wondered what Raikera could be doing with the boy that smelled like sand and blood right now. Ryu thought she saw a crossroads up ahead. Was someone standing there near the sign?

As she got closer, she found she was right. It was a boy. A boy with wildly styled black hair wearing a high necked blue shirt. A white and red fan was on the back of his blue shirt. She approached the sign with caution, not knowing who this guy might be.

She stood next to him, pretending he wasn't there and got her map out to check if she was going to the right way to the temple. Out of the corner of her eye, she looked at him. Well, he certainly was handsome with his dark, brooding look and black colored eyes. But she liked the other boys she knew more, really. He didn't have a headband on him so she wondered where he had come from.

Maybe there was a town around here not on the map. The boy looked at her.

"Do you mind if I see your map?" he asked her. She looked up at the husky voice.

"Uh... Sure." she said, handing him the map.

He took it from her and gave it a once-over. "Where are you going?" she asked him.

"To the northern temple. You?"

"Same place."

"Well," the boy said, folding the map up. "Maybe we can travel together. If you don't mind that is."

He handed the map back to her, and Ryu felt Al bristle next to her, growling lowly. She wondered at that for a moment; she wasn't getting any bad vibes from this guy. She took the map back from him, and shook her head.

"No, I don't mind." she said. She put her hand out. "Ryu."

He took it, giving her a firm shake and a small smile.

"Sasuke."



**T**sunade sighed at her desk, glaring at a piece of paperwork in her hand. She looked over five other stacks of it at a frowning Shizune. The young woman folded her arms.

"You can't keep putting it off," she said. "There's no use looking at _me _like that."

She groaned as she put the paper down. "I still can't believe I've got to choose some chunins among this mess of papers. Shikamaru's going to lose his mind soon if he doesn't get some help besides Temari." she said

A sudden banging on the door, and a jonin hurried in.

"Lasy Tsunade!! Please excuse the intrusion, but I've got important news from the ANBU Black Ops." she said, panting from her run up the stairs.

Tsunade sat up. "What is it then? Out with it!"

The jonin took a breath.

"Sasuke Uchiha has been sighted traveling with Ryu Akihara."



**K**iba and Inu arrived at the training sight to see Dr.Masuda talking to Guy; Lee, TenTen, and Neji standing around their teacher. The scene seemed serious so they hurried over to see what was happening. Inu skidded to a stop next to the professor.

"Doc! Ryu wasn't at her house!!" he said, sounding worried.

Kiba looked the doctor over, finding him of average height and having dark green eyes to go with the floppy brown hair. He sighed.

"So, where is Ryu then, Mr. Might?" Dr. Masuda asked.

"She asked for a couple days off. She said she was going to the northern temple." he said.

"What?!" Inu said, sounding upset. He looked up at Dr. Masuda. "Doc!! She did it again!!"

He started to jump up and down, seeming very angry.

"She does this every year!! Just goes off on her own without telling anyone where she's going!! What about us?! What about her birthday?! Can't she just get on with her life and forget that blasted-"

"Inu!!" Dr. Masuda said, trying to calm the boy down. "Ryu has a right to her feelings. She can go visit her mother's grave whenever she wants."

Kiba was more alert. "Her mother's grave? I thought you said it was her birthday." he said to Inu.

Dr. Masuda looked up at him. "It is. Today is Ryu's birthday, but tomorrow is her mother's anniversary." he said.

The same reaction that Kiba had had seemed to happen all over again with her teammates. But Guy seemed more serious.

"So, she didn't know that you were coming?" he asked. Dr. Masuda shook his head.

"We always try emphasize on her birthday, so we wanted to surprise her by coming to see her. But it seems she wanted to focus on her mother." he said, sounding a little let down by the situation.

"But Doc!!" Inu said, sounding whiney. "This happens every year. She can't go alone to see her Mom. She's always so sad when she goes..."

Even with the hood on, you could see his ears go down in sadness. Akumaru whined, the worry from before coming back. _Kiba,_ he said to his partner. _Something's not right. This isn't like Ryu._

Kiba knelt down to pet him, trying to calm him down a little. _**She probably just wanted to be alone,**_ he said to him. _**Everyone wants their privacy when it comes to a death. **_Akumaru whined once more. He couldn't help but worry about her.

"Well, we'll just have to throw her a party when she comes back." said Guy. He smiled. "It'll be the biggst surprise for her and it might make her feel a little better."

"Sounds good to me!" said TenTen. "This gives us more time to find presents."

"Guy!!"

Shizune's voice was heard shouting and they turned to see her running down the road. She stopped in front of him, and looked to Dr. Masuda and Inu.

"Are you Dr. Masuda?" she asked him. He nodded.

She looked around at all of them.

"We have a situation. Lady Tsunade wants to see all of you right now." she said.

Guy was immediately alarmed. "What is it?"

Shizune had already started to run back the way she came.

"I'll tell you along the way! Hurry!!"

The ninjas quickly followed her while Dr. Masuda and Inu tried to keep up the best they could. They seemed pretty speedy though for a college professor and a little kid. Kiba wondered how they could keep up with their ninja speed as Akumaru was traveling in his shirt. Shizune and Guy stayed close together as she told him what was going on. All it took was one sentence.

"Ryu was seen traveling with Sasuke Uchiha."

Lee looked up. "Sasuke? Are you sure?" he asked.

She nodded. "The ANBU have been keeping any eye on Ryu for months, and they were tailing her when they met up at a crossroads. They couldn't tell if it was planned or not, but there are two ANBU following her right now. Hopefully Sasuke hasn't noticed them." she said this as they ran across rooftops.

Dr.Masuda had somehow been able to jump up next to Shizune.

"Who's this Sasuke guy? And why's it so important that he met up with Ryu?" he asked.

"Sasuke is the last of the Uchiha and Orichimaru just recently got his claws into him. He's most likely following orders from him to lead Ryu to him." said Guy.

"Orichimaru?!" They heard Inu say from the back. "Doc!! That's not good!! What if -?!"

"Inu!! Don't worry, we'll get to her before anything happens!!"

"Why aren't we leaving now?!" Kiba demanded as they ran. The school and hokage offices loomed in front of them. "We need to get to Ryu before Orochimaru does!!"

"We need more information before we go running off. Don't worry, the ANBU Black Ops. can handle anything that happens until back-up shows up."

"And who's gonna be back-up?"

"You guys of course!! Who else?!"



**A** light thud would of been heard in the forest if there had been anyone to hear it. A white colored mask with the marks of a sparrow hit the ground along with a black cloaked body. Another hit the ground from a tall sycamore. Kabuto stood near the top of the tree, looking down at the two bodies. He sighed as he picked up the mask near his foot.

"Everything would of gone just fine if you'd told me what I wanted to know," he said to himself. He looked up to the road.

If everything had gone right, Sasuke should be leading the Akihara girl right to where he was going to 'ambush' them. This was going to be so easy it was almost pathetic.



**"W**hy the hell are we just standing here?!" Kiba nearly shouted as he stood in front of Lady Tsunade and her desk. "We need to go now!! We needed to be out of here five minutes ago!!"

Tsunade's mouth twitched angrily. "Watch your mouth, Kiba. I need information from Dr. Masuda before you go."

She looked at the doctor. "Dr. Masuda, you've been Ryu's guardian for how long?"

"Two years."

"And when did Shana Akihara die?"

"Two years ago."

The hokage looked at him levelly. "Now that, my good doctor, is a lie." she said.

Kiba looked at Dr. Masuda, wondering what was going on. Why would he lie about something like that? Inu looked up at him. He tugged on his shirt sleeve.

"Doc? Um... I think we should tell her." he said.

Guy looked at Tsunade. "Tell you what? What's going on?"

Dr. Masuda bit his lip then looked pleadingly at the hokage.

"Please, you mustn't hold it against her! It wasn't her fault!! Ryu needs to be here! She needs to be here, away from him!! Where she's safe!!" he said this all very quickly and desperately.

Tsunade waved her hand. "We know it wasn't her fault; nothing like that is ever anyone's fault. I just need to know what happened to see why Orochimaru wants her back so badly."

"Back?!" Kiba nearly shouted, alarmed at this news. "What do you mean, back?! What the hell is going on here?!"

Tsunade stood up. "Kiba Inuzuka, keep silent or else I will kick you off this mission faster then I can kick you out that window!!"

Kiba, shaking with supressed rage, gritted his teeth. They needed to stop talking and go after Ryu before anything happened!! Dr.Masuda took a breath, holding onto to Inu for what looked like support.

"You're right; Shana didn't die two years ago." he said this, his voice nearly toneless with depression. "She died three years ago. I found Ryu a year later near one of my dig sites, nearly starving to death and badly injured. I hardly recognized her when I saw her. Her legs looked like they had been whipped and her hands were covered in bandages. It took a long time for her to tell me what happened and I'm still not clear on the details."

He paused and Kiba held his breath. What had happened? Ryu had never said anything about any of this. She had always seemed so happy and carefree.

"It seems Orochimaru and some of his men came to their house, killed Shana and kidnapped Ryu. He wanted to try and get the Akihara jutsus out of her and train her while she was still young. But Ryu wouldn't have it. It seems all he did was torture her all that one year and then she escaped somehow.

"I've never pressed her to tell me all about it, but it must have been horrifying. She was only ten..."

The room was silent as they all took it in. Tsunade looked to Guy. She sat back down.

"Alright then... Guy, I am assigning your team to go after Ryu and get her back here as quickly as possible. Kiba, you'll be going with the rest of your team after they leave." she said.

Kiba nodded, not arguing at all. If this was going to work they had to work fast. There was no more time left to argue even he wanted to open his mouth and go with Guy's team. Akumaru growled next to him to hurry up and get downstairs; he smelled Kurenai and the others waiting for him there. He turned on his heel and followed Guy's running team. They raced out the door past Kurenai's team. They followed after, close on their heels.

Shikamaru walked into Lady Tsunade's room, closing the door behind him.

"You called, Lady Fifth?" he asked.

"Shikamaru, I need you to quickly put together a team of genin and other chunin to help teams eight and nine on their mission." she said as she gathered more papers. Damnit, she was getting a headache already.

Shikamaru nodded. "Will do."

He walked out and looked to his right where Temari leaned against the wall. The quadruple-pig-tailed blonde looked levelly at him.

"Well?"



**"...S**o that's why I'm going. What about you?" Ryu asked Sasuke.

"Same reason. My entire family has been dead a long time." he said. She looked sympathetically at him.

"How old were you?"

"Well, aren't you chivalrous."

The voice came from above and the they both stopped and looked up. Kabuto had his arms folded, leaning against the trunk of the tree he was standing in. He straightened up and walked to the middle of the branch.

"Here I was thinking you were just going to smack her over the head and drag her here to me." he said.

"What?" Ryu looked at Sasuke, and finally saw the curse mark on his neck.

She gasped and started to run in the other direction. "N-no! Stay away from me!! Both of you!!"

Kabuto jumped down right in front of her, ready to grab her.

"Sorry, you're not going anywhere, Ryu Akihara." he said with a smile.

She whirled around, Al growling at the both of them as he stood next to her, his fur on end. Sasuke was suddenly there, grabbing her arm with lightning speed. She yelped and immediately tried to pull away, using her wind to add to the force. He grabbed her ponytail and yanked, pulling her face towards his. Red Sharingan eyes bored into hers.

She was frozen. She tried to move, putting all her will into her movements. She couldn't even move her pinky! She whimpered a little as the red eyes continued to hold her. Kabuto came up behind her and hit her behind the head. She collapsed soundlessly and a miniature roar was heard.

Al was suddenly there and he jumped on Kabuto in an instant. With yowls and growls, he started to claw and bite everything he came in contact with. The silver haired boy howled, trying to get the enraged cat off of his face.

"Get-this-blasted-cat-off-me!!" he shouted between orange fur, pulling at his back and tail.

But the cat would not be gotten rid of so easily. He turned on Sasuke as soon as he tried to come close and jumped at him. His sharp claws swiped his cheek, leaving three long lines across is jaw. Sasuke growled, and grabbed the cat by the scruff of his neck. Al yowled in protest, turning to bite his wrist.

With a grunt, the boy tossed the animal into a tree. It hit the trunk with a heavy "Thunk!" and fell to the ground listlessly. The poor cat didn't get up. Kabuto, whiped his clawed open lip. The cat had scratched up his entire face, but smoke had already started to come off his regenerating wounds.

"Damn animal," he mumbled. He went over to Ryu and picked her up. "Come on. We've wasted enough time here."

They took off into the forest, Ryu thrown over Kabuto's shoulder like a sack of grain.



**T**emari burst into the apartment with such force the whole building shook like an elephant had rammed into it. She cringed as she realised the force she had just used. But this was important!

"Is Gaara here?!" she whispered savagely to Kankuro, who sat on the couch with Raikera.

Both tiger and boy looked at her strangely. "No. Why? And why are you whispering?" he said

She came closer so she could be heard more easily.

"Shikamaru just told me that Ryu was seen with Sasuke Uchiha on the road to the north." she said. Kankuro stood up.

"The brat that Orochimaru took?" he asked. She nodded.

"Yep. So you know he's bound to go after Ryu too."

Kankuro swore under his breath. He looked at her seriously.

"So, what are they doing about it?"

"They've sent three teams so far, one made up of two jonin and six genin and another made up of chunin and more genin." she said. Kankuro looked at her incredulously.

"Just two jonin?!"

"Everyone else is off on other missions!! Just don't tell Gaara or he might go on a rampage. We'll tell him when she's comes back."

Kankuro gave her a levelled look, almost like he would be very angry with her in a few minutes. "You mean _if_ she comes back!!"

"Don't even _think_ that Kankuro! You know how much she means to him!" she whispered more savagely then before. "Just act natural and pretend everything's okay."

In his own room, Gaara picked up his gourd. It didn't matter how low they whispered, he could still hear them in an empty house. He opened his window so they wouln't see him go out.

Orochimaru was going to have to go through him if he thought he was going to get his hands on Ryu.


	26. Awakenings: Part One

**Author's Note:** OO AAAAAHH!! RYU!! And that's all I will say... Happy Reading!!

- Ryu

**Awakenings: Part One**

_**R**__yu screamed as she was held by her shoulders by this strange person with his white hair and red eyes. She continued to scream as she was dragged downstairs, absorbed in her terror until she was thrown down on the ground outside. She heard someone else shouting and looked up. Her mother had turned into a whirlwind of steel. Slicing, cutting, spinning with the sword in her hand, she cut down every Sound ninja that dared to come within arm's length of her._

_A man with pale skin and black hair suddenly dared to defy her blade. He grabbed the sword and yanked it out of her hand, a blade coming out of his own mouth. He plunged it into her chest. Ryu screamed, but was quickly smothered as she saw her mother hit the ground. The man with the pale skin pulled her mother up by her hair, her mother screaming curses as he did so._

_"YOU DAMN SNAKE!! YOU MONSTER!! YOU VILE, COLD-BLOODED FREAK!! I HOPE YOU BURN IN HELL FOR ALL YOU'VE DONE!!" She howled with so much rage the other ninja took a few steps back from her._

_Her eyes were burning a vehement purple._

_The pale man looked at Ryu. She had started to cry in her terror. She was petrified for her mother. She didn't want her to die!! _

_"What a beautiful daughter you have, Shana," the pale man said. "She'll be a wonderful addition to my village."_

_"SHE'LL NEVER BE YOUR'S OROCHIMARU!! DO YOU HEAR ME?! NEVER!!" her mother screamed at the top of her lungs so whole world could hear her proclamation. _

_"We'll just see about that,"_

_Orochimaru took the sword in his hand, and turned it so he was holding it by the hilt. He held the sword up above her neck. Ryu stood frozen while the person with the china white skin and red eyes held her fast. She thought she felt his hands tremble. With what? _

_Her mother looked to her, her lips moving. Ryu couldn't hear her but she knew what she was saying._

_"I love you."_

_The sword swung down. Ryu screamed._

_"NOOOOOO-"_



**"-O**OOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

She screamed herself awake, terror griping her with a vice hold. She looked wildly around herself. Trees. Grass. She as in the forest still!! Those two-! Kabuto!!

She tried to move, but found herself tied to a tree. In a blind panic, she desperately pulled against the rope that tied her to it, panting with fear. She looked again about herself and shreiked when she suddenly saw Kabuto standing there.

"Well, I see that you're awake." he said.

"You bastard!!" she shouted at him. "What the hell do you want with me?!"

Kabuto faked a cringe. "Oof, such language. How old are you?"

"What's it matter to you?!"

A Sound ninja clothed in winter camoflage appared next to Kabuto, and whispered something in his ear.

"Good," he said. "So long as he gets here, that's the important thing."

The ninja disappeared, and the silver-haired ninja looked at her, a cruel smile spreading across his lips. Ryu's hands and legs suddenly ached with remembered pain. She tried not to whince; she was determined not to show any emotion besides rage in front of this scum. She looked around.

"Where's my cat?" she demanded. Kabuto waved to the forest.

"Somewhere. We left him where he was."

"Why you-!!" Ryu started to scream as many curses at him as she knew.

Kabuto turned around, not listening. He jumped into a tree, and pulled out a pair of binoculars. He looked into the distance, searching for the signals. He paused in his search when he saw a glimmer in the distance. He was coming.

He jumped down from the tree. The girl was still glaring daggers at him. Ryu was thinking like a mad woman. She had to think of a way to get out of these ropes without that boy noticing. She had to do it slowly too, and then quickly get away before he had the chance to use that crossbow strapped to his back.

It was obviously meant for her if she tried to fly away. She sighed inwardly as Kabuto took a seat right in front of her. He sat cross-legged against a tree, his dark eyes not moving from her. She had to concentrate. Focus.

Focus on the air around the rope so it could slowly heat and sharpen into small air blades. If only she knew how much time she had before whoever they were waiting for showed up.



**S**cores of birds took off into the sky. There were predators in the forest. Orochimaru moved with the ease of fluid as he walked among the trees. He had requested that he walk alone; he could take care of himself. Even if Kabuto hovered about him like a mother hen, he demanded his privacy when it came to matters like this.

He walked into a small glade and stopped.

"Well," he said with his liquid mercury voice. "This is quite a suprise."

Gaara stood on the other side of the glade, arms folded and a death glare on his face. He merely blinked at the statement, his light green eyes boring holes into the man.

"You," he said, his voice soft but with a line of steel in it. " will leave Ryu alone."

Orochimaru smirked, amused at the quiet demand.

"I'm sorry, but I can't oblige with that request. Now, if you excuse me, I have no use for you anymore, and I must keep an appointment." he said. He started to walk across the glade in a different direction.

A inverted whirlwind of sand, and Gaara stood in front of him again.

"If you will not leave her alone, I will kill you." he said, his voice toneless.

Orochimaru looked at him with disdain.

"Oh, is that all?"

He then sank knee deep into the ground suddenly and was then swarmed with crushing sand. The man grunted, trying to move. Gaara didn't even blink.

"I warned you," the red-head said.

To his surprise, Orochimaru laughed. The laugh echoed around him, foreboding and malicious. He grinned at him with fanged teeth.

"You're as much a fool as your father was!"

The man suddenly puffed up like a balloon, and exploded in a cloud of smoke. It started to rain snakes, Gaara shaking them off where they landed on him and crushing them with the sand when needed.

_Damnit,_ he thought angrily. _It was a clone!_



**R**yu ground her teeth as she concentrated on grating the wind against the ropes that tied her to the tree. She had to get out of here! It had nearly been half an hour since that ninja had come to talk to Kabuto, or so the shadows claimed. She continued to glower at the silver-haired boy as he stood across from her. He sighed.

"You could lighten up. You're not going to be eaten, you know." he said.

"I can be in any mood I want, four-eyes! You kidnapped me, remember?!" she snapped at him. She thought she felt the ropes slacken by just a milimeter.

She tried not to smirk. All she had to do was keep him occupied and he probably wouldn't notice. She saw him look back into the forest behind her him.

"Who the hek are you waiting for anyway?" she asked him. "This guy better be important for you to have dragged me in the middle of nowhere."

Kabuto smiled at her malisciously. "You'll find out soon enough."

Ryu smiled back, the Akihara grin laughing at him. "No, I won't!"

She sprang from the tree, the ropes cut in half and took off into the air as quickly as she could. Kabuto swiftly whipped the crossbow off his back and started to shoot at the girl. She laughed as she turned in the air, deflecting the arrows with her wind barrier and air control. It was so easy to dodge weapons when

It was easy to dodge things when you could direct where they went. This didn't seem to phase the young man at all as he kept methodically firing.

A blur of black and blue flew past her and she spun quickly only to see Sasuke put his fingers to his lips. A fireball was produced so quickly she couldn't dodge it. She shouted as the flames licked her body, losing her balance. She fell, trying to create a whirlwind as she did to cushion her fall. She hit the ground covered in fire like a phoenix, but blew it off once she got to the ground.

Kabuto leapt on her, the girl shouting in rage as he did. She gathered her chakra in her throat and screamed as loud as she could as Sasuke jumped in front of her. The sound echoed for miles. Kabuto shoved her head down into the ground, forcing her to swallow dirt. She growled as he pulled her back up, holding her arms behind her back.

Sasuke was wobbling uncertainly as he got up. She had blown him into a few tree branches with her scream. Kabuto rolled his eyes.

"This is exactly why he didn't want you to come," he told him, ignoring the struggling girl beneath him. "You'd be better off training at the village."

Sasuke could only glare at him, and Ryu felt Kabuto flinch.

"If I could hear what you were saying, I'd probably tell you to shut the hell up." the boy said louder then he usually talked. Ryu would of laughed if her mouth wasn't full of soil.

She spat the mud out and started to shout curses again, mostly directed at Kabuto. Her wind powers suddenly burst around her, Kabuto finding it hard to hold on to her. She started to fly up again, if not weighed down by the unwelcome passenger.

"If you think I'm just gonna stand here and wait around to be dragged back to that god-forsaken hell-hole of a village," she roared, her eyes turning a shade of yellow. "You and your damn leader have another thing coming!! I'd rather be dead then go back to that heartless bastard!!"

"Oh, Ryu, do you really hate me so?"

The mercury voice slid easily into the dark blonde's ears. She dropped to the ground, unable to move from shock. Kabuto couldn't stop her from shakily turning around to where the voice had come from. The pale man with the black hair stood there in flesh and... She didn't think he had blood.

Her lungs suddenly convulsed in panicked lurches. She couldn't breathe. Her hands and calves burned in supreme pain. She wanted to make some kind of sound, but her voice was frozen with fear. Pricks of ice traveled through her veins as she shook with terror. Her body was screaming in horror for her as she couldn't move.

The snake laughed quietly.

"The poor little dragon. She must have missed me."

He said this more to himself then anybody. He then turned his dagger eyes on Kabuto.

"What did I tell you about touching her?" he nearly snarled. "Hands off! Now!"

The silver haired boy immediately obeyed, letting go of her so quickly that his flesh slapped against his clothes. He then looked to Sasuke.

"Good lord, Sasuke, you look horrible! What did she do to you?" he said.

The boy went to open his mouth to refute that Ryu had done nothing to him, he wouldn't of allowed it, but Orochimaru waved him off. He then walked over to the shaking Ryu and bent down to look at her. He smiled, closing his eyes.

"Hello, Ryu," She flinched as he said her name with a sickeningly sweet voice. "It's been a while, hasn't it? Since I let you go that is..."

She squeezed her eyes tight, her eyelids hurting with the strain. She clapped her hands over her ears. She violently shook her head.

"N-n-no!!" She stumbled over the word then hung onto it with a feverent passion.

"Nononononononononnnonono!!"

She spoke so quickly it was like listening to a fast-forwarded tape-recorder. Orochimaru blinked, wondering what was going on. Ryu shook her head, her brain practically shutting down with terror.

"You're not here!!" she practically moaned. "You're not here!! You can't be here!! It's not possible!!"

She couldn't think. It was all just a stream of consciouness pouring out of her mouth. She couldn't think for the terror that seized her. All the memories had rushed forward in a horrifying rush and she could barely breathe because of it. It was overwhelming her senses and her body was acting with the simplest answer: denial.

"You're in that rotten stink-hole of your's doing who-knows-what to kidnapped chidren with kekkei genkai so you can get your greedy, dirty mitts on their jutsus and tear their familes apart and kill them and torture them and do whatever the hell occurs in that psycho mind of yours!! But there's no way you're here right now!! I'm probably dreaming!! I should be dreaming!! That's what always happens this time of year! I dream about what you did! What you did..."

Kabuto stood there, listening to it all. He hadn't been there when his master had kidnapped this child. What he done to her? She was practically having a mental breakdown at the very sight of him. He looked at Sasuke, who stood listening as well.

"Sasuke," he said, getting his attention. "I think it's time you get back to the others."

The boy hesitated, listening to Ryu as well. He couldn't get his eyes off her as he heard the snippets of maddened whispers that were coming out of her mouth as she described what he had done to her in the past.

"Sasuke," Orochimaru said, not looking at him but keeping his eyes on Ryu. He broke himself out of the foreboding trance. "Go to the other group. I want to have some alone time with our little lost dragon here."

He then looked up at Kabuto. "Once she realises I'm actually here that is."

Sasuke frowned then disappeared in a flash. The man turned back to the girl to try an convince her that he was real.


	27. Awakenings: Part Two

**Author's Note:** Hey everybody! And now for the conclusion! - Ryu

**Awakenings: Part Two**

**N**eji scanned the forest with his Byakugan, looking for any sign of movement that looked like Ryu and her kidnappers. They had found the two bodies of the ANBU that were supposed to have been following her. Considering their missing masks, Guy guessed Kabuto had killed them. It seemed he was making a habit of showing that he could easily kill their best shinobi. They had sped up in their efforts to find Ryu before anything serious happened to her.

His eyes suddenly caught the image of a large domesticated cat, limping its way along through the forest.

"I found Al!" he announced. "But he looks like he's hurt!!"

They quickly went to the area, and found the orange tabby cat. He had been determinedly struggling along the trail of the scent of the silver haired young man, growling as he went. The cat looked up at the team of ninja that was suddenly around him, and, in recognizing them, collapsed to the ground with a sigh. TenTen kneeled next to him, checking the cat's bruises.

"He's really hurt," she said. "He'll need to see a vet a soon as possible."

Kurenai's team then arrived on the scene, Kiba jumping from the tree and landing next to TenTen.

"What's wrong with him?" he asked quickly. "Hinata, come here and take a look at him."

Akumaru went to his friend's side, whining, concerned. The cat growled as Hinata looked him over, quickly telling him what had happened. Akumaru listened then took off to a tree near them. He scrambled up it and started to sniff it determinedly. He then turned around and barked to Kiba.

"He says he's got Kabuto's scent!! And Ryu's!!" Kiba told the group.

"We'll need to move quickly if we want to catch up to them." Kurenai said to Guy.

"I'll stay here with Al, and wait for our backup to show up," Hinata volunteered.

"I will too. You guys go on, and find Ryu," said TenTen. "We'll be okay here."

Guy nodded. "Alright. Let's go!"

They quickly took to the trees, Shino leaving a few beetles with Hinata and TenTen to come and tell them if anything happened while they were alone. Kiba growled lowly as he followed the scent of fresh air tainted with the scent of a moldy basement. _Don't worry, Ryu! We're coming for you!!_



**O**rochimaru sighed as he sat in front of Ryu. The girl was still denying his existence and so he had taken a seat in front of her to wait. It had been nearly ten minutes though, and he didn't know whether to be peeved about the entire situation, or to laugh out loud. Kabuto had been leaning against a tree, tossing a kunai knife up and down. He walked over to his lord.

"If I may, Lord Orochimaru?" he asked.

"Have at it," he said. He got up to watch what he would do.

Kabuto walked over and sat down in front of her. He then seized her shoulders, forcing her to look at him.

"Listen to me, you stupid girl!!" he said savagely. "If you're dreaming, then why am I here? And that boy who just left? You've never seen either of us in your life!! Explain that!!"  
Ryu's eyes wavered for a brief moment, but then snapped to a fierce mauve in an instant. Her winds powers exploded around her with a roar. She whirled around in a purple-colored wind.

"YOU!!" she howled.

With a miniature roar, she charged at him, the wind tearing the ground around her. She started to flip, and kick at him, her eyes screaming for murder. She didn't care if he was more powerful then she was; she wanted to rip this monster in half! Orochimaru simply dodged and stepped out of the way, smiling all the while as he watched her move.

"Well, well," the snake said as he dodged her fury driven attacks. "The village trained you well."

He easily caught one of her legs.

"Just what I needed."

"GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF OF ME!!"

She launched herself sideways, spinning so violently that he lost his grip. She took off, scattering dust as she went. She started to throw air sharpened wind at him from every direction, growling as she did. The sanin quietly laughed as he slid out of the way of each blow directed at him, the air leaving deep gashes in the earth.

"YOU THINK I'D JUST GO BACK WITH YOU?! AFTER ALL YOU'VE DONE TO ME?!"

She formed a wind sword in her hand and dived at him. She started to hack and slash at him as much as she could, nearly making herself sick with vertigo as she moved so quickly. She thought she felt the wind inches away from his pale flesh, but she couldn't touch him. The smile that had graced the snake's face had started to fade though.

It had been amusing at first, but now he was starting to become annoyed. He dodged the gleaming piece of wind in her hand, and quickly lashed out, wrapping his pale hand around her throat in an instant. Her lungs immediately started to burn, her throat constricting itself at the unwelcome pressure. His eyes gleamed a vicious yellow.

"ENOUGH!" he hissed maliciously. "You're coming with me!"

"I'd-rather-be-dead!!" she managed to choke out, her mauve eyes still burning.

He squeezed and she gave a small squeak as her lungs protested.

"That can be easily arranged!

Kabuto quickly came over, alarmed.

"Lord Orochimaru!! What are you doing?! I thought we weren't supposed to hurt her!!"

The snake looked at his follower, a mad taint in his eyes.

"You can't, but I can!!" He then laughed, and looked back to Ryu, smiling toothily.

"You remember, don't you? You wouldn't talk to me, so I used to crush your hands until I could squeeze blood from them. I used to peel strips of flesh from your pretty little legs, and then poke little hot wires into you!!"

The man laughed once more, his cruelty reaching towards the sky. Kabuto stood there dumbly, absorbing the information. He didn't know whether to be horrified or fascinated. He decided it was a mixture of both as they started for the forest.

"Does she have any scars?" he asked.

"I don't know. I cut her hair off as well. It used to be so long too... I wonder how long it took her to grow it all back?"

"RYU!!"

The shout came from the other side of the glad as Kiba and Akumaru burst onto the scene. Kurenai and Guy followed after with Shino, Neji, and Lee right behind them. They all froze when they saw each other, the kidnappers regarding them with disdain while the ninjas looked determinedly on. Kiba and Akumaru stood growling menacingly while Shino's beetles nervously wavered around him. Neji and Lee looked ready to leap into action in half a second.

"Well, isn't this nice." Orochimaru said aloud. He leaned into Ryu's ear. "What a _wonderful_ birthday present, hm? You get to say goodbye to all your friends!"

She quivered in unwanted fear, her heart crying as a murderous rage struggled to crawl up her throat and burst into being. He looked to the angry shinobi.

"Well, it's generous for all of you to have come to see us off, but me and my little dragon are leaving now, thankyou."

He turned back to the forest. Kiba's rage exploded within him.

"NO, YOU'RE NOT!!" he shouted, infuriated.

He ran towards them, already looking as feral as a manic wolf. Kabuto leaped forward, knife ready, giving a sharp whistle as he went to meet him in the boy's anger. About fifteen Sound ninja seemingly materialized out of the air.

"CHARGE!!"

They all leapt into battle, Guy and Lee the first to enter the fray. Neji easily sent a few flying with a quick rotation. Kabuto was quickly finding out he had made a mistake by challenging a fully enraged Inuzuka and his partner. It seemed the angrier he was, the more powerful he became, making it harder and harder to elude his sharp claws and quickly growing fangs. The boy caught sight of the snake moving back towards the forest, the rage in him howling at this sight.

He quickly sent Akumaru some chakra, and the pup quickly became his double. Kiba knocked Kabuto away with a quick punch, and left him to Akumaru. The silver hair then found him being pounced upon by a snarling monster. Kiba quickly started to charge toward the fleeing foe. Kurenai turned from her quickly finished fight to see her running student. Panic quickly seized her as she started to run over to stop his deadly pursuit. Another Sound ninja stepped in her way, forcing her to stop. She looked fearfully around him; she didn't want to see one of her students die!

"Guy!!" she shouted. "Do something!!"

The man spun around to see the boy meet up with the sanin. They were too late. With a snarl, he leapt at the kidnapper. All Orochimaru had to do was step out of the way. He quickly dropped Ryu, who quickly started to shout and scream, as soon as she hit the ground.

A snake flashed out of his hand and curled itself around her, constricting her body and going over her mouth so she couldn't scream anymore. Kiba whirled around from his miss and started to attack the man with swipes and punches, growling all the while. Orochimaru smirked as he dodged all of this. The boy leaped once again, preparing to strike from above, and forcing Orochimaru to turn around.

As he spun slowly, taking his time, Ryu caught a sliver of silver starting between his thin lips. She took breath to scream, but the snake viciously constricted, forcing the air out of her. Her terrified eyes desperately implored the flying Kiba to stop what he was doing. _NO!_ she wanted to scream. _STOP!_

The two met, and sword came out.

"AH-! ARRRGH!!"

The cry split the air as the sword had went through one of Kiba's outstretched hands. With unseen speed, Orochimaru caught the boy by the neck, squeezing until he thought he heard miniature bones snapping. Ryu started to squirm and whimper desperately, ignoring the popping in her own bones as the snake continued to squeeze the life out of her.

Orochimaru looked back her, smiling maliciously.

"Did you find a boyfriend while I was gone, Ryu?"

He then turned back to the kicking and glaring Kiba, a taunting glint in his eye.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I don't think you're good enough for my little dragon!" he said with a mocking smile.

"She's-not-yours!!" he managed to growl out.

Orochimaru laughed, his sick mirth reaching towards the sky. Another glimmer of silver started in his throat.

"Oh! I _really_ beg to differ!!"

The paralyzing terror from before gripped her again as Ryu saw the scene from her mother's death being played out before her. He was doing it again. Killing the people she loved. The murderous rage from before would not be held anymore. It roared.

_**NO! NEVER AGAIN!!**_

A venomous growl suddenly came from Ryu's body, and swept through the glade. The quick grip of fear made everyone involuntarily pause. The snake that held Ryu then exploded in a rain of blood. Orochimaru moved off to the side to avoid the falling pieces. Kiba looked out of the corner of his eye, seeing a crouching Ryu.

Another growl came from her, this time louder and she looked up. Her face now held purple stripes around her eyes and cheeks as her eyes were a mixture of yellow, purple, and red. She roared threateningly at Orochimaru, four-inch canines glistening in his direction. The Ryu from before had disappeared and had been replaced by... what? She looked like a demon.

The stripes spread across her arms as she stood there and growled, looking angrier and angrier at her previous captor. With a snarl, she took off at a run on all fours towards them. Orochimaru quickly dropped Kiba, and started for the forest again. She determinedly veered off, but was then stopped by four ninja. Claws started to grow from where her nails once were, but the growling never stopped.

Animal ferocity had taken over as she looked around herself. She leaped, and pounced on one of the ninjas, a spray of blood going up as she did. A quick scream, and she moved on to her next victim. Roaring, she swiped and clawed at her attackers, taking off fingers and pieces of flesh as she did.

Kiba wanted to look away, but couldn't. This couldn't be Ryu... Could it?

The enemy ninja weren't even able to touch her in her in-human speed. She met up with another, gutting him before he even knew what was happening. Another tried to run at this point. She jumped from the now dead man, and onto him, digging her claws into his neck. She then leapt on another, tearing his arm from his body with a snarl. Wings suddenly burst from her back, red with blood but white in color.

She turned her furious eyes on Orochimaru, and charged at him, her hands leaving red stains on the ground. She leapt, and swiped her drenched claws at his chest, leaving red slash marks on him. He had tried to duck, but he was slow compared to her. She was suddenly on top of her him, wrapping her red hands around his neck and digging her claws into his skin. Small puncture holes bled little rivers of dark red blood. Enraged eyes bored into his.

"_**YOU MURDERED MY MOTHER!! AND YOU THINK I'M GOING TO LET YOU MURDER MY FRIENDS?!**_" she screamed in pure fury. She raised a hand from her crushing hold, the long claws gleaming. "_**I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!**_"

She brought it down, and a howl went up. Kabuto stood behind her, plunging a dagger into her back. Orochimaru kicked her off, the sword coming out of his mouth as he did. He moved quickly, slashing her across the chest. She screamed in pain, the feralness from before leaving her voice.

He moved again, the sword missing her chest, but going through her arm instead. Another howl of pain, this time sounding more human then before. Kabuto moved in and sent her flying back a few feet. Her wings flared out, stopping her from going into a tree. More growls started to come from her, purple wind starting gather around her.

"FISH OF THE ANCIENTS!!"  
"DOG OF SPARTA!!"

A huge rush of water suddenly came from the forest, and wrapped itself around Ryu. The flicker of a fish tail was seen. A red Doberman then jumped out and stopped in front of the wall of water, growling and snapping threateningly at the two. Through the water, what looked like a blue mermaid quickly curled herself around the injured girl, trying to calm her down. Dr. Masuda and Inu came from the forest.

Orochimaru took a step back from the giant dog, Kabuto staying close to him. They looked around at the other Leaf ninja, finding themselves along since their allies had either been torn apart by Ryu or quickly dealt with by the two teams that had been sent after Ryu. The snake stretched out his hands.

"You don't actually think you can do anything to me, do you?" he sneered at them.

"We might though."

He looked up to see Shikamaru with his own team of chunin and jonin standing in the tree branches above him. Kabuto leaned into Orochimaru's ear. Even if he was with a sanin, this many ninja might be hard to deal with, and he didn't feel like being caught by the Leaf as a traitor. Again.

"I think it's time we leave," he said.

Orochimaru sighed. "Fine!"

They started to quickly sink into the earth. Shikamaru jerked involuntarily.

"Quick! Someone stop them!!" Half of them leaped to the spot, but they were gone by the time they got there. The mermaid and the dog had disappeared to where they had come from, and Dr. Masuda quickly ran over to Ryu. Kiba was there before him, catching her as she fell over in a faint.

"Ryu?!" he asked her. The girl looked at him, glassy-eyed as the demon-stripes faded from her face.

She tried to open her mouth to say something, the thin lines of tears starting from her eyes. She wanted desperately to talk, but her throat felt raw and red inside her. Why was everything fading...? The world quickly dipped into darkness as she struggled to answer the questions that seemed to be being flung at her from the people around her.

**Extra Author's Note:** Well! I just wanted to put in some extra words here; I've got the next two chapters half-way written. Which is a good thing since I've got final exams, the final art show at the studio that I go to every day, the fashion show that I have to model in and the deadline for the student-run magazine that I help edit coming up! And so's my birthday! I'm turning eighteen! I'm gonna be legal!! XD Yeah, May's super-busy... BUT! I shall try my hardest to wrap this story up!! Only two more chapters until it's finished!! -Ryu


	28. The Turning of Hearts

Author's Note: Well

**Author's Note:** Well! That must have been some read! I'm sorry if some of the descriptions were kind of icky. I just wanted to get the violence across. But then again, if you're watching Naruto, bloody violence isn't all that bad... _Especially_ with the Sasuke and Itachi fight going on right now! In Japan, that is... gets handed a paper from her editor Huh? Oh! Right! I've got an announcement! reads the paper over That... I'm supposed to say in the next... chapter? Uh... Okay! And for some reason that reminds me of something else... I've got a deviant account! Just look for me under RyuRedwings and I think you'll find something of _interest_... And while I'm at it, I'm also on GaiaOnline! As Ryu Redwings. Simple, right? Anyway! Enough of my babbling!! Happy Reading!!- Ryu

**The Turning of Hearts**

**R**yu woke up, feeling a headache as soon as she opened her eyes. She recognized the plain white ceiling and pale blue walls of a Konoha hospital room. She couldn't move her left arm, and found it painful to try and take a deep breath. She looked over at her arm and saw it covered in gauze and white tape. Her chest was covered in bandages as well.

She bit her lip, trying to hold back the tears and sadness that was spilling into her consciousness. She could remember everything that had happened, what she had turned into. The tears spilled over, as her chest prickled in the pain of suppressed heaves. _They saw..._ she thought despairingly. _They saw what I am..._

Heartache and tortured feelings swam in her chest and head. They would be terrified of her now, her friends. The friends she loved and cared about would be terrified of the spirit that called her body it's home. The thought was breaking her heart. She didn't want to lose the friends that she had found in the village.

She had been so scared of coming to Konoha and not finding anyone to talk to besides her long-lost grandparents, who she wasn't even sure would take her in. Instead, she had found Kiba and Akumaru. Then Guy, TenTen, Lee, and Neji... And then Gaara... She kept down a wail; all the people that she loved had probably already turned their backs on her because of what she was.

Even Gaara, who would probably hate her for not trusting him enough to tell him. He had trusted her, hadn't he? She heard the door click, and quickly wiped her tears away as Lady Tsunade walked in with Shizune and another nurse.

"Well, it's nice to see you awake," she said gently. She looked kindly at the girl who looked completely miserable.

This didn't look like the girl she had seen a few weeks ago, out of bed and ready to jump out the window just to get out of the hospital. She looked subdued and weary; tear streaks glittering on her pale cheeks. Tsunade sat down on the bed and looked her bandaged arm over. She was healing quickly, and after reading Guy and Kurenai's report, everything seemed to make sense now.

The girl's quick recoveries had always puzzled her, but now that she knew that Ryu had a demon spirit in her, it explained a lot. The arm was healing quickly; a small streak was all that was left of the open gash she had seen two days ago. She checked her chest wound, finding the same thing. The healer then turned her attention to something else.

"Ryu," she said. The girl looked at her. "Can you show me your seal?"

The girl nodded numbly. "It's on my back... Between my shoulder blades."

She took her shirt off so the hokage could look at the seal that never faded. It was like Gaara's, a stark tattoo on her back. Tsunade studied it, finding it completely unlike anything she had seen before. There was the signature swirl within a circle, but it had looping wings coming off the circle along with two triangles along the bottom and top of the seal. There were small circles that were scattered around the seal, two looking like round cartoon eyes within the loops that formed wings, and four others going along the bottom with the triangles that were divided into twos, then fourths, and so on until the last one.

The parts of the seal varied in color, the swirl and looping lines in the center being purple, the circles within the wings being red, and the feathers of the wings being yellow. The triangles were green, and the four other circles along the bottom were black.

"Do you know who did this seal?" she asked Ryu.

"She did it."

"Who's she?"

"The Winged Tiger," she said tonelessly. "She sealed herself in me."

"Oh..."

Tsunade checked her pulse and her IV drip, and then got up. Shizune had already opened the curtains of the room, remembering that she had liked sunshine.

"Well, you seem okay. You're wounds are healing pretty fast." Tsunade said, trying to cheer the girl up with her good health. "Do you think you're up for some visitors? You have a lot of friends who want to see you."

Ryu looked up at her, her eyes a little surprised. She then looked back down, twisting the end of the blanket with her thumb and index finger with her good arm.

"Um... I... Don't really want any visitors..." she murmured.

Tsunade felt a pang of sympathy for Ryu. She nodded.

"Alright, I'll tell them." she said.

The nurse and Shizune followed her out of the room, and closed the door. Ryu watched the door close, and looked out the window. Her eyes wandered around the clear blue sky. She hated hospitals...

Downstairs in the lobby, Tsunade saw that Guy, Lee, Neji and TenTen were nervously standing while Kiba sat in a chair with Al in his lap and Akumaru on top of his head. Temari was nervously tapping her foot while sitting in a chair as Kankuro paced. Gaara stood against a wall, his arms folded and studying the floor with a brooding glare. Dr. Masuda and Inu were sharing a newspaper, but she could tell they weren't reading it. She sighed; she didn't want to tell them that Ryu didn't want to see them right now.

She cleared her throat. Guy immediately perked up and went up to her along with Dr. Masuda.

"Well?" Guy asked. "Has there been any change?"

She nodded her head. "She's woken up, and her wounds should be healed by the day after tomorrow," she said. The two men gave a sigh of relief.

"Can we see her?" Dr. Masuda asked.

Tsunade frowned the slightest bit.

"Ryu doesn't... Feel up to seeing anyone right now," she said. She remembered the misery in the girl's eyes. "Maybe tomorrow."

Inu's ears drooped underneath the hood of the grey sweater he was wearing, and Akumaru whined on top of Kiba's head. Guy and Dr. Masuda looked sadly at one another and went to their respective groups. Gaara had looked up at the news, but was now already leaving the building. Temari looked to Kankuro and quickly followed him out.



**T**he next day was bright and sunny, making the wind pleasantly warm on Gaara's face as he walked around in Konoha. They were leaving in about two weeks so he had decided to take more walks. He kept to the tops of the buildings, working on his balance as he walked around. He was heading in the direction of the hospital, hoping that Ryu was feeling better enough to have visitors. Though he had the feeling that she was feeling just fine, but didn't really want to see anybody.

He had run into Lee the day after the mission, and had asked how it had went. He hadn't mentioned the fact that he had attempted his own rescue in the efforts to retrieve Ryu from Orochimaru and Kabuto. Lee had been very serious, and told him exactly what had happened, including how whatever demon Ryu had sealed inside her had come out. His thoughts were on this information as he walked toward the hospital, and how Ryu might be feeling at this moment. Exposed... Frightened... Alone... He knew what it was like.

He quickly ran up the side of a temple nearly next door to the hospital, and viewed it from afar. The roof was covered in lines for laundry, white sheets flapping in the wind. A different color caught his eye, and he quickly ran toward the hospital's roof. He landed easily onto the tiled roof, and walked toward where he had seen the patch of dark blonde hair. He found her sitting near the edge, her knees drawn up to her bandaged chest and looking out over the village.

"I had a feeling I'd find you up here," he said to her.

Ryu didn't look up at him.

"I hate hospitals..." she said. "I couldn't stand being in that room anymore."

Gaara took his gourd off, and sat down next to her. Her hair was down, the usually ragged looking hair looked feathery in the light breeze that was blowing. He then noticed that her hair had a slight wave and thickness to it. That feeling he always got when he was around her glowed in his chest, but he quickly brushed it away. He had bigger things to deal with.

The light in her eyes had gone out. He took a breath.

"Ryu..."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything," she said, catching him off-guard. He blinked.

"It's alright..." he said. "It doesn't really matter to me anyway."

Ryu suddenly came to life again.

"That's easy for you to say!" she suddenly shouted. Her eyes were filled with pain as she looked at him. "You weren't there!! You didn't see-!! You didn't-!!"

Her eyes quickly filled with tears. She choked down a sob, but then let a smaller one out as a spasm of pain raked itself across her chest from trying to use her battered muscles. Gaara sat there as he watched a few tears slide down her cheeks. He reached over and pulled her over to him, bringing her into a hug. Her body shuddered against him as she finally let herself cry, soaking his shirt in salt water.

She looked up at him, her eyes shining with fresh pain and despair.

"Gaara, he saw the whole thing!!" she said. "Kiba saw the whole thing, from beginning to end!! Gaara, what am I going to do?! How can I face him after all that he saw?!"

She buried her face in his shirt, trembling.

"He's probably terrified of me now!! He won't even be able to look at me!!" she wailed into his chest. Gaara could say anything, but held onto her just the same.

He knew the best thing would be to let her spill all of it out. He rested his head on top of hers as she continued to cry. He felt the urge to rub her back, and started to move his right hand along between her shoulder blades, feeling the shudders of grief go through her body. He closed his eyes and sighed.

"Ryu," he said this while looking down at her, trying to look into her face.

She hiccupped as she looked up at him, her eyes tinged with pink.

"I don't think..." He tried to gather the words in his mind.

"Real friends... Don't care what you have inside you, whether or not you have one soul or two. It doesn't matter to them that you can turn into a monster in the blink of an eye, they... Love you for who _you_ are. They know that it's you that's inside, not some demon that was stuffed inside you against your will. You're a person that's important to them, with feelings and a heart."

Ryu listened, biting her lip. She looked away, studying the scene of Konoha at noon. He waited patiently as she mulled what he said to her over in her head. He was actually getting quite comfortable with her in his arms. It felt... nice. Ryu sighed.

"I guess..." she said. "You're right... It's just..."

She looked back to him.

"No one's ever really known, except me, Inu, and the Doc. I've never really been one to open up like this..."

She made herself more comfortable in his arms, not really wanting to get out of them just yet. It was comforting to be near someone right now.

"But still... What am I going to do? How do I face them after... all that?" she asked him. He sighed.

"You just... Do it, I guess." he said. "You go in and hope for the best. If they can't handle it, then they really weren't your friends to begin with..."

Ryu looked down, considering his words, and trying to clear the hurt from her mind. Ow, that headache was coming back... But it was true. That's what it all came down to really. Take a deep breath, say a quick pray, and then just dive in to hear what they say. She pressed closer to him, trying to find some strength from her friend. She thought she heard a noise come from him as she did, and she quickly moved away, worried.

"I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?' she asked quickly. She thought she saw the faintest of blushes on his cheeks.

Gaara shook his head, getting up and avoiding her eyes.

"No, no, I'm fine!" He gave her his small smile. "I have to go soon though. Do you want me to walk you down?"

"And get back into that cell they call a room?! Hek, no!! I'll go back down when I'm good and ready!!" she said fiercely, making him want to laugh.

She inched closer to the edge, swinging her legs over the edge of the building.

"Besides, I like it up here. There's a lot more sun." she said, tilting her face to try and warm herself up. Gaara nodded.

"Alright. I hope you take visitors tomorrow so I can see you."

"Oh, I might not be here tomorrow," she said quickly as he turned to jump from hospital and back to the temple. "Lady Tsunade said I'm nearly healed so I could go back home tomorrow if I like. Don't worry, I'll let you know where I am."

He then left, trying to sort out his feelings. It was like he had been lit on fire when she had suddenly been so close to him. Something had suddenly sprang to life in his veins, causing him to feel more alive then ever had in his whole life. He had wanted to do something to her, but couldn't put his finger on what... He thought it actually might be best to try and figure out his own feelings before he went to see her again. He still felt pretty tingly too...



**K**iba walked along one of the hospital hallways, Akumaru on one side, and Al on the other. Raikera was staying with Gaara and his siblings at the moment. He really hoped he could see Ryu today. He just wanted to see if she was okay, and show her that he wasn't scared of her. He had been for a while, but then remembered their squabbles over spirits and demons.

It had dawned on him that Ryu hadn't been talking about anyone they both knew; she had been talking about herself. He very nearly cried at that realization. How many times had he said so many careless things about spirits? He felt like he was the worst friend ever as he couldn't even see past the end of his own nose. He really wanted to see if she was alright, and, maybe, if she wanted to, if he could have some forgiveness. He turned the corner to see TenTen, Lee, Neji, and Guy standing at her door.

"Ryu!! Come on!! We know you're in there!!" TenTen shouted, banging on the hospital room door with enough volume to wake up a whole cemetery.

Kiba hurried over.

"What's going on?" he asked. Neji looked at him.

"Ryu's barricaded herself in her room."

"WHAT?!"

He could only stare at the determined kunoichi as she continued to hit and shout at the door. Akumaru and Al were busily smelling the floor however, and this got his attention more then TenTen did at the moment. The puppy looked up at him.

_She's not in that room!_ The pup quickly told him. _But we've got her scent!_

_**Then what are we standing around here?! Let's go find her!!**_

He quickly left the scene, following the two animals. They gradually led him up to the roof, Kiba's heart freezing over in fear. He ran ahead of them, bursting out onto the roof with so much force he thought he heard one of the hinges snap.

"Ryu!!" he called, looking around the flapping white sheets.

He skidded around a few laundry poles then caught sight of dark blonde hair. He ran over to it, and in seeing Ryu sitting on the edge, promptly freaked out.

"NO! Ryu, don't do it!!" he practically screamed.

In hearing the noise, the girl quickly jumped up from her seat. "What?"

Before she even knew what was happening, Kiba had practically thrown himself at her. She lost her balance from the sudden weight, and they tipped over the edge. They both ended up screaming in terror. Ryu's wind reacted to the feeling and quickly shot them both up, and she managed to land with Kiba still wrapped around her in a bear hug. She pushed him off of her.

"KIBA?! What's the big idea, coming out of nowhere like that?! Are you nuts?!" she shouted at him, pretty freaked out.

"Me?! What about you?! You were gonna jump off the building!!" Kiba shouted back, flipping out as much as she was.

"Jump?! I wasn't going to jump!! I was just sitting there like a normal person, unlike _you_ nearly pushed me off the darn roof!!" She folded her arms stubbornly. "I couldn't even jump off a building if I wanted to anyway! My wind wouldn't let me!!"

Kiba blinked, somehow this making a lot of sense to him. "Oh." he said.

"Oh!"

His previous feelings suddenly came back in a rush, and he quickly wrapped her in a hug. "Oh, Ryu!! Are you okay? How do you feel? I was..."

He looked at her. He didn't exactly wanted to admit it, but he had been scared for her. Her brown eyes searched his face, and he swallowed his pride.

"I was afraid. For you." he said, his face showing his feelings.

Ryu blinked, processing the information. _Oh, thank God..._ was all she could think. She hugged him back, holding onto him as hard as she could, relief spreading through her body. She looked up at him.

"So... You're not afraid of me?"

He opened his mouth, but then hesitated. A small spark of fear snuck into Ryu's heart. Kiba took a breath; he needed to be honest.

"I was... At first. But then I thought about it for a while, and I realized what I saw wasn't really you. That's another part of you, but it's not the Ryu that I know and love. Which is why I came to see you today." he said. He looked away from her, biting his lip.

"Ryu, I'm sorry. About everything that I said before... I never thought you might be talking about yourself." He then looked imploringly at her. "Do you forgive me?"

Ryu looked at him for a moment, and then laughed. She rubbed the top of his head, ruffling his hair.

"You silly boy! You actually thought I'd be angry with you about that?" she said, still giggling. She then hugged him again.

"I'm just glad..."

She started the sentence, but then let it trail off. He waited for her to finish, looking down at the top of her head. Funny, he didn't remember it being so close-up before. She looked up at him, smiling, and she shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm just glad, I guess."

She let go of him, and bent down to greet her cat. She picked him up, and hugged the animal.

"Oh!! I was so afraid that he killed you!! I'm so happy to see you alive, Al!!" she said as the cat purred so loudly she could barely hear herself. He climbed onto her shoulders and started to rub the sides of her head.

Akumaru walked over to Kiba, panting happily. The boy scratched the back of his head, and then cleared his throat.

"So, uh... There's a group of people waiting for you downstairs. That is if a certain kunoichi hasn't broken down your door yet." he said. Ryu looked up, surprised.

"Oh!! I forgot about the door!!"

She quickly airslid to the broken door, and went downstairs, the boy following after her. As she went down the stairs, Ryu felt like she could sing. They didn't care!! They DIDN'T care!! She was still Ryu Akihara, last of the Akihara's and resident crazy-girl.

She quickly turned a corner before Kiba could catch up to her and spun on a foot in happiness. _THEY DON'T CARE!! YA-HOO!!_ she shouted in her head. She didn't care if she got reprimanded for leaving her room and causing panic and confusion. The people she loved didn't care that she had a crazy winged tiger demon spirit stuck inside her!



**G**aara sat outside on his very small porch, looking out into a different part of Konoha then what you could see on top of the hospital. The hospital... Ryu... He still felt strange whenever he thought about her, which he found seemed to be more frequent. He didn't get it... Why did he feel this way?

He heard keys at the door, and turned to see Temari walk in with some groceries balanced on her hip. He turned back to the view with a small sigh. But as small as it was, Temari still heard it and recognized the feeling put into it. She put the groceries down on the table, and picked her way through the moving boxes that were littered about the apartment. She stood next to him, and looked at him.

"What's the matter?" she asked him. He shook his head.

"Nothing, really..." he said. She folded her arms, studying his face.

"Then why exactly do you look like you could kill the scenery?" she said.

He sighed once again, giving her his signature brooding look.

"It really is nothing... I've just been doing a lot of thinking lately..."

Temari sat on the railing, easily balancing herself with a toe on the floor and her back to one of the porch's walls.

"Do you mind me asking about what?" she said.

She was genuinely concerned. The years had proven that when Gaara was stuck thinking a lot, the result was either really bad, or, until recently, really interesting and kind of cool. He had an unusual way of thinking so she liked to hear what was on his mind. She had noticed he had been exploring his feelings more recently, trying to make himself more human. Gaara considered the street once more, and then looked at her.

"No. Maybe you can help me." he said. Temari straightened herself up.

"I'll try."

"Alright..." He took another breath and then looked at her. "Can you... Do you think... Temari, do you think you can explain love to me?"

His older sister blinked at him. "Uh... What?"

"Can you explain love to me." he said, making it sound more like a statement then a question like before.

She stared at him for a moment, then looked down in thought. Well, she had been willing to help, but she hadn't expected this... How could you 'explain' love? Love was love; it couldn't _be _explained! She looked up once again at her younger brother.

"I'll try, but I don't think I'll do a very good job," she said, feeling uneasy.

Gaara then thought of something. "But what about Shikamaru?"

"Excuse you?"

"I heard you tell him that you loved him. Can't you explain that?"

Temari stared at him a little bit more. She shifted on her perch.

"And explaining that will help you... How?" she said, sounding a little testy.

She was used to Kankuro ragging on her for her relationship with the laid-back Nara, and actually got kind of angry with anyone if they had opinions about it. She generally didn't like putting it into conversation either, and if Gaara was going to turn out like Kankuro...

Gaara shrugged. "I don't really know. If you can't help me, I'll just ask Kankuro." he said.

Temari nearly jumped off the railing at that thought. Knowing Kankuro, he could either take this seriously, or _way_ too lightly. She'd rather take her chances with herself, thank you!

"No! No, I think I can explain now!" she said quickly. She thought a moment to gather her thoughts.

"When it comes to loving another person, it can go in a lot of different ways. Like, how I love you and Kankuro. I love you two because you're my brothers, and we're part of a family. But then there's Shikamaru, and me, which is a little harder to explain. Love like that is...

"It's when two people are attracted to one another. Sometimes you're attracted to a person because of the way they look, or because of a quality. But sometimes it can just come out of nowhere when you look at someone."

Temari looked at her brother a little unsurely. "Is all of this making a little sense?" she asked.

"Yes, a little. But what do you mean by attracted? Do you mean like magnets, or something else?" he said, looking a little confused.

He was starting to make a few connections in his head. Words he had heard before were starting to make more sense. He sort of understood the phrase 'love-at-first-sight' now...

"It basically means to be drawn to a person for some reason." she said.

Gaara suddenly sat up straight. "And then? What else is there?" he asked attentively.

Temari fidgeted. This was so hard to explain!! Even if you _were _in a relationship!

"Well... You usually feel really nice around the person... Like..."

"Warm and tingly?" he asked quickly. She blinked.

"Yeah."

Gaara stopped looking like he was about to jump off the porch and suddenly went back to brooding. Temari's head was abuzz with questions. How had he known what it felt like to...? _Holy freakin' shit,_ she suddenly thought as it dawned on her. Gaara was in love.

But with who?


	29. Until The Wind Changes

Author's Note: Alright, for those of you who wanted to add in a "Well, DUH

**Author's Note:** Alright, for those of you who wanted to add in a "Well, DUH!! It's RYU!!" after the last chapter, humor me please. Let's just see how it ends, huh? I'm actually kind of sad to end this. It's been really fun, writing this. It's definitely given me a lot of practice with drama and story lines, that's for sure!! But, OH MY FREAKIN' GOSH!! IT'S THE LAST CHAPTER!! I'm flipping out!! This is the first story that I've written that I've actually finished!! This is HUGE!! The magazine that I help with is finished up too! YES-NESS!! editor whispers into her ear The announcement? Oh yeah! clears her throat Okay!! There will **TWO** more Ryu stories! Exciting, yes? And so you people can keep up with with good ol' Ryu Akihara I will tell you the title of the next story... At the end of the chapter. XD Happy Reading!!

- Ryu

**Until The Wind Changes**

**R**yu wiped her forehead as she looked at all of her belongings in front of her. Things were scattered around her room in slightly organized piles, the really important stuff being in front of her and on her bed and everything else going down in importance the farther away it got away from her bed. Al had situated himself between her jewelry box and her now-padded chakram while Raikera sat next to her, her tail twitching as she watched what her mistress did. She was packing with a heavy heart, but with some will. Dr. Masuda had asked her to come with him on an expedition to the snow country, and how could she say no?

She was starting to miss them too, her makeshift family of her mother's oldest friend and an adopted little brother. Plus, according to Lady Tsunade, she could leave for a little while if she wanted to... She pushed her hair back as it fell past her face since she had decided not to tie it back that day thinking back to that morning. Or at least that's what she had said...



**S**he had sat there in front of the hokage's desk, in a chair that was slightly bigger then herself, feeling extra small with the very tall and strong sanin in front of her. Though because of her being in the hospital so many times, she knew she didn't have to be scared of Tsunade; she did, however, have a cowing presence to Ryu when she wasn't stuck in a hospital bed. The woman had cleared her throat and folded her hands.

"Well, Ryu Akihara," she had begun. "I _was_ going to tell you this on the day you left for the temple, but certain things happened so..."

She brushed that matter aside very quickly.

"Anyway, after many reviews of your training and abilities here in the Leaf Village in such a short time when compared to others of your rank, and in consideration of your performance during the third exam..."

The woman had paused, as the girl's eyes seemed to get larger with every word.

"Uh... I'm very honored to say you've proved capable of becoming a chunin of the Leaf. If you choose so, that is." Tsunade finished.

Ryu took a moment to absorb the information, her eyes slowly returning to their normal almond-shaped size.

"What do you mean, _if_ I choose to accept it?!" she had nearly shouted. "Of course I'm gonna accept it! Wow!! Thank you so much!!"

She had felt like she could start flying around the room right now. She had done it!! She was a chunin!

"Do I get the vest now, or later?" she suddenly asked. Tsunade looked like she might cringe.

"Well, there's a slight problem with that. You see, we don't have a size small enough for you right now so..."

The girl's spirits visually drooped. Tsunade had then reached behind her desk.

"But! I know your friends with Kiba, so I thought you might have fun with this..."



**T**hey had continued to talk for a while, discussing her plans for the future, including her going to the snow country. Tsunade had actually encouraged her to go, proposing her to be a sort of ambassador to the princess to help strengthen ties with the recovering nation. Ryu looked over at the chunin vest thrown on the table. She was supposed to give it to Kiba as a surprise, and she couldn't wait to do it. But she wasn't sure how to tell him that she was leaving.

He was her best friend... She felt like she was supposed to be really sad about leaving, but she wasn't somehow. After all, she knew she was coming back. She had to complete her training and continue the Akihara clan in the Leaf Village. She just hoped Kiba felt the same.

What if he was really upset? He had just gotten her back a few days ago since the Orochimaru incident so she didn't know how well he would take it. She looked out the window, seeing that the sun was starting to set. She had sent a message over to Kiba's place to meet her at the fountain in the square; he knew which one she was talking about. She wanted to laugh as she thought of it that way.

Konoha really had become her second home, just like she had hoped it would become on her way here a couple months ago. She picked up her bag and put Al's ribbon around his neck and put Raikera on her leash; she figured Akumaru might want to say goodbye too. She walked out the door, half realizing that Raikera's back was nearly to her hips now, and hoping that she wouldn't freak out any people walking in the street. Her mind went to her team as she walked along to the fountain. She hadn't told them anything just yet, and she was leaving tomorrow afternoon.

To make things a little worse, they were all off on a mission today and wouldn't be back until tomorrow evening. She absolutely _had_ to leave something for Guy and everyone else, especially TenTen. She started to go through the memories of what happened between all of them, trying to think of something that included all of them. When she got to the square, the clock tower was striking seven, and she looked around the square. The post office was still open, and she could see the fried rice stand she had gone to the first day she had been in Konoha. And there was Kiba, sitting on the fountain ledge with Akumaru next to him. He turned around to see her before she could say anything.

"Hey there!" he said. He jumped up and couldn't resist giving her a hug.

Ryu hadn't realized how worried he had been about her until after she had gotten out of the hospital. This seemed to only stoke the small fire of worry in her. How was she going to tell him? She hugged him back.

"Hi!" she happily said back, and took a seat next to him.

Al leaped up onto her lap while Raikera lied down at her feet, calmly looking around the square. Kiba watched the tiger, seeing that she was quickly losing her kitten demeanor and starting to acquire the dignified air of a tiger. He then looked to Ryu, noticing that she had her hair down, and not in the ponytail it usually was in. It fell a little past her shoulders and looked not as ragged as it usually did and was quickly taking a curl to the night air.

"So," he said, "What's this announcement you've got?"

Ryu blinked, hoping that her eyes weren't betraying her.

"I..." She started, feeling locked by his expectant eyes.

"I became a chunin!" she finished. The inner Ryu smacked her forehead. _Doh!! Lost my nerve!!_

"What?! Really?! Oh, wow, Ryu!! That's great!!" he exclaimed. He jumped up, pulling on her wrist. "Come on!! Forget the fountain, we've got to go celebrate!"

Ryu laughed. "I'm not done yet!!" she said, standing up.

She gave him a mischievous smile, her eyes sparkling wickedly. Kiba raised an eyebrow, wondering what exactly was going on.

"I need you to close your eyes though!"

He patiently obliged, and heard a rustling. He then heard Akumaru take an excited breath, but Ryu quickly shushed him. The presence of something in front of him was then there.

"Okay! You can open 'em!!" said Ryu, her voice nearly bursting with giddiness.

He opened his eyes and was greeted by the signature red circle of a chunin vest. Ryu looked around it, grinning crookedly.

"Ta-dah!!" she sang.

He blinked at the vest. "Who's this for?" he said stupidly, not quite believing it.

Ryu put the vest down and bopped on the forehead.

"You, silly!! Who else?!"

He blinked once more then jumped up, crowing happily.

"Yahoo!!" he shouted into the air. He quickly grabbed Akumaru, practically dancing on top of the fountain.

"We did it, Akumaru!! We did it!! I'm a chunin!!"

He jumped down from the fountain, and picked Ryu up, spinning her around in the air.

"This is so cool!! My mom's gonna completely _freak out_!!" he said excitedly. "Okay, now we _have_ to go celebrate!! For both you and me!"

He started forward again, but Ryu stayed where he had put her down, looking anxiously down at the ground. Akumaru whined to him, and he stopped. He turned around.

"Ryu? What's the matter?" he asked.

"Um... There's something else..." she said. She sat back down on the fountain. "I'm leaving."

Kiba's happiness high suddenly stalled out. "What?"

She looked up at him, giving him a pained smile. "I'm leaving Konoha tomorrow with Dr. Masuda and Inu." she said.

Kiba numbly sat down. "Oh..."

That was all he could really say or think. Just 'Oh.', and that was it. Akumaru immediately started to whine, crawling over to Ryu and putting his head in her lap. She started to pet him gently. Kiba studied the ground, absorbing the information.

The fountain bubbled playfully, willingly filling the sad silence. He tapped his foot, and Ryu bit her lip. She reached over, and lightly touched his hand. He looked at her.

"Why?" he asked her, his eyes tinged with sadness.

"He needs me to go with him to the snow country." she explained. Though explaining didn't seem to be making her feel better about this. "Apparently the weather change is making all the snow and ice spirits go a little crazy."

"Crazy how?"

"Like causing avalanches, floods, and killer blizzards crazy."

Kiba's eyes widened at that. "Oh..." he said again. "_That_ kind of crazy..."

"Yeah..."

Another sad silence, and she looked at him, giving him another wane smile.

"I'm coming back though; I have to. I just don't know when..." she said, letting the sentence trail off. Akumaru whined some more in her lap, licking her right wrist.

She scratched the top of his head. Kiba sighed, getting up. He looked around the square, hands on his hips. He kicked the ground with the tip of his sandal.

"Well..." he started to say. He then took his coat off, revealing the white t-shirt he wore underneath.

He then held the coat out to her.

"It's gonna be cold up in those mountains, so you might need this," he said.

Ryu's mouth dropped open.

"B... But, Kiba!! I can't take this!!" she said, completely blown away.

He looked at her flatly. "Ryu, I have another at my house just like it. I'm pretty sure I'll be just fine without this one." he said convincingly.

Ryu took the coat, not knowing what to say. She then jumped up, leaping into his arms.

"Oh, Kiba! Thank you so much!!" she said as she hugged him so tightly he thought he heard a rib crack.

He was actually lying about the coat, but Ryu didn't know that and he wanted her to take it. It wouldn't matter how long she was gone now, she would always have that to remind her of him. He was starting to think about getting something different anyway, but he liked her having it more then throwing it away. He smiled down at her.

"Now you have to come back so you can pay me back for the coat!"

"Oh!! I'm going to miss you so much!!" she said, burying her forehead in his chest. She then looked up at him, smiling crookedly. "You're one of my best friends here!! I'm going to send you a letter every day!!"

His smile became broader. "Yeah, well, I try! So, you wanna go celebrate now? There's no night like tonight!"

She then let go of him, laughing. "Okay!" she said.

She quickly skipped forward towards the restaurant district.

"Come on!! I'll race you to every ice cream place around here!!"

The boy hooted with laughter. "Alright! Let's go party!!"

He raced over to her, followed by the animals, and they started their trek around the district. Kiba donned his new chunin vest and Ryu pulled his coat on so the night air wouldn't get to her in her tank top. The bottom nearly reached her knees and the arms flopped over her hands a few inches, but she didn't care. Ryu was laughing and smiling, her heart glowing. She knew now it didn't matter how long it took her to get back to the village, her and Kiba would stay friends through the time.

And she would send him letters every day! Or at least once a week now that she thought of it. Sending him a letter every day might be hard considering how boring life seemed to get as soon as you started to record it. They might be a little sad since they couldn't see each other, but neither of them would forget the other. Either way, she wanted the memory of this night to be a good one as she prepared to celebrate their new rank and say goodbye with cheer with one of her best friends.

It actually wasn't until eleven at night that Ryu was able to get home. Her and Kiba had lost track of time until he had realized his mother might murder him before he could tell her he had become a chunin. He had walked her home as usual, and they had shared one final hug before they said goodnight to each other for the last time. Ryu flopped down on her bed, exhausted. Raikera had already claimed the sofa, and Al curled up next to her. She looked out her window at the huge full moon that threatened to swallow the sky.



**G**aara sat on top of the temple, looking out over Konoha. He had almost forgotten how much thinking he was able to do every night, and it was one of those nights. He was still trying to sort out the new feelings he had so suddenly discovered. He was in love... With Ryu.

After his talk with Temari, everything had made so much sense. The way he felt around her, and how he liked to be around her so much. Now all he had to do was figure out what to do with these feelings for now. The most he had done in Konoha was make use of their library, and he had read a few books where romance was involved. It usually went two ways: spectacularly well, or completely disastrous.

Then there was Temari and Shikamaru, and he ended up comparing them with Kankuro's ex-girlfriends. He sighed as he stared at the moon. _What am I going to do...?_ he thought, trying to keep the indecision at bay. He couldn't just leave it this way; feeling like this and going back to Suna, and leaving her here with... Kiba.

He couldn't help, but feel nervous at that thought. She was so easy with him, and he made her laugh and smile. She was so happy and energetic with him. He thought back to the exam and how fiercely he had fought to keep that Grass ninja away from her. He couldn't really compete with Kiba; they were on completely different levels. And what could he offer her? His scarred humanity and half-paralyzed heart. He sighed into the night.

"You are _the_ hardest person to find, you know that?"

He turned at the sound of Ryu's voice, and saw her standing a few feet away on the temple's tiled roof. She walked over and sat next to him, swinging her legs over the edge of the building.

"I thought I might have to search the whole village to find you." she said, smiling at him as she did. He couldn't help but blink at her.

"Where... How... Your hair's down." he finally said, feeling stupid at the statement.

Ryu laughed as she touched her slightly wavy hair. "Yeah, well, I decided to let it down for a while. It's been a long time..."

A small glow started in his chest as his heart did a tiny leap in joy. _She was looking for me! Yay! _he thought he heard it whisper.

"Why were you looking for me?" he asked her. There had to be a reason.

The girl looked down at the far away ground, swinging her legs back and forth. He waited for her to answer, trying to read her eyes. The lights had dimmed the slightest bit, and she twisted her lips in a way he hadn't seen before. She then looked up at the moon.

"Well... I kinda have something to tell you..." she said, sounding sad.

She looked over at him, slightly surprised by the light expression of concern on his face.

"What's the matter?" he suddenly asked her. Her eyes got a little wider at this question. She bit her lip.

"I'm leaving Konoha," she finally said. Funny, why did her heart feel sadder then it did when she was talking to Kiba?

Was it because of the reassurance that she would see him again in the future, and that she had none when it came to Gaara? Gaara was suddenly split into threes; one was happy that she wouldn't be left with Kiba, one was sad that she was leaving a place where he could find her, and the last was just starting to suffer from a broken heart. He then understood why the lights had dimmed in her eyes.

"When?" he asked quietly.

"Tomorrow."

He looked at her, alarmed. She looked at him, smiling a little painfully. Gaara felt like he was going to fall off the temple he was lightly swimming in sudden feelings. A pit was starting gnaw it's way where his heart was.

"That's... Really soon," he said numbly.

"Yeah, it is..."

She drew her legs up, bring her knees up to her chest.

"You know," she said. "It felt different, telling Kiba today, but now I'm telling you and it feels... Like I might never see you again."

Gaara didn't know what to say. He was a little busy in his own mind, trying to steady his breathing.

"Ryu..." He took a breath, and looked at her. She had already looked over at him when he had said her name.

"Um... I... Love you."

In Ryu's head, the world seemed to stop for a moment. She blinked, trying to wrap her head around this sudden information. Gaara loved her? She then realized he had continued after his proclamation and shook herself awake to listen.

"I've loved you the moment I saw you, I just didn't know it yet. It took me a while to realize it, but I love you. And..." He took another breath. "The problem is, I don't really know what to do with myself now..."

They hadn't stopped staring at one another. He was having a little trouble reading her face. She hadn't slapped him yet or started shouting or stomped off so those were good signs. Ryu didn't know what to say for once in her life. Except that she couldn't help but think that that was the most she had ever heard Gaara say in one full moment.

And then it finally struck her; a boy was actually in love with her. She suddenly looked away from him, completely embarrassed and not knowing what to do. Gaara tried to look into her face, and saw that a full blush was starting on her face. He had never seen her blush before. He had seen her laugh, smile, cry, and shout in anger, but she had never seen her blush.

"Ryu?" he tentively asked. She looked at him, her hands going to her face to try and hide the blush.

"Um... I... Uh... Oh, jeez..."

She felt so silly, and shy, and embarrassed... And completely clueless as to what she was supposed to do.

"Are... Are you sure?" she asked, and then immediately regretted opening her mouth.

Good Lord, what a stupid question!! He had just confessed to her, of course he was sure! _Idiot! Idiot!! Idiot!!_ she couldn't help but shout at herself. Gaara smiled shyly.

"Yes, I'm sure," he said with his soft as ash voice. She suddenly thought she might faint as he looked at her.

For some reason she was seeing him in a different light. She had always seen him in this sort of way, but had kept it from herself. Then again, she had always known him to be handsome, and she liked how quiet and soft he was compared to her. He was a break from what she usually knew, and she always felt... Safe when she was around him. She had always been searching as to how she felt around him and she had finally found the word. He made her feel safe and... Oh, he was still waiting for an answer wasn't he?

"I... Oh, Gaara, I really, _really_ don't know what to do..." she said, looking at him pleadingly. "I mean... "

"Ryu?" he suddenly asked.

"Yes?"

"Can I kiss you?"

She stared at him. Her heart and lips moved before her brain could catch up.

"Sure,"

Gaara leaned forward, gently took her chin, and kissed her. Ryu's heart skipped a couple beats. It was quick, and was over in an instant as he pulled away from her. She thought she felt her face turn bright red in embarrassment, but she suddenly laughed. Gaara blinked in surprise.

"What is it? Did I do something...?" he started, but Ryu shook her head, giggling.

"It tickled!" she said, smiling. "That tickled so much!! And... I'm sorry, but I had to do something to break that silence! I couldn't stand it anymore, and I still don't know what to do or anything and... I'm babbling, aren't I?"

Gaara nodded, and she giggled again.

"So... You don't mind?" he asked, looking a bit unsure. She shook her head, blushing a little again.

"No, I don't... I think... I think I always knew," she said, finally getting her head back on her shoulders. She smiled shyly at him. "And... I think I love you too."

At this she blushed again. Gaara thought he might start shouting for joy. He got closer to her.

"Really?" he asked hopefully. She nodded, still blushing.

They were so close together that she tilted her head so her lips could catch his. Instead of him kissing her like before, she was kissing him. His eyes widened in reaction, and he kissed her back. He wrapped his arms around her and she hugged him. She stopped the kiss, and looked into his face. Her heart finally decided to quiet down, and she sighed quietly as she let him hold her against him. _So, this is what my mom found,_ she thought. _I like it..._ Her heart glowed happily as he gently held her.

"I love you, Gaara," she finally said.

He smiled as wide as he could.

"I love you, Ryu,"



**T**enTen reached over to her right foot as she stretched on the ground, warming up for the day's training. She had meant to go see Ryu the night before, but had been too tired to even get up for dinner. Both Guy and Lee had exhausted her with their usual vigorous gusto, though Lee hadn't been as excitable as Guy. She looked over at the meditating Neji, and then over to Lee who was stretching as well. She turned as she heard Guy enter the area and saw that he was carrying two boxes and a few letters in his hands.

"Team, I've got an announcement," he said. He usually sounded happy and excited when he had an announcement, but he sounded grave with this one. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stood up.

"As of today, Ryu will no longer be training with us."

TenTen blinked, completely shocked. She half-thought that this was what a boat being shot out of the water might feel.

"What?" Lee said, letting all their shock speak through his mouth. "Why?"

She tried not to become too depressed as she listened to her sensei explain.

"She's gone back with her guardian, Dr. Masuda, on a mission in the snow country. After that, she intends to finish her training with him, and then she'll return here. We just don't know when..."

A general depressed silence took the area. They would all miss her in their own way. Guy gestured to the boxes and letters in his hands.

"She left all of this for you," he said. He went around and gave them each a letter and a box, except for Neji who only got a letter.

TenTen looked over at him, who was turning the lumpy letter over in his hands. He looked over at her, shrugged his shoulders, and opened his letter. Guy then set down the largest box in front of her. TenTen quickly opened the letter before she opened the box, and started to read.

_Dear TenTen,_

_I'm sorry I wasn't able to say goodbye to you. I felt really bad about leaving all of you without even an explanation or a warning. You made me feel very welcome here in the village and on the team. I know I've left a real friend waiting for me when I get back. So I decided to leave you something that I knew you'd love. The Doc sent them to me from Oto, but I never got the chance to use them. But I thought you might have more fun with them then I would. Enjoy!_

_ Your Friend,_

_ Ryu_

_P.S. Don't let Lee shake his box!!_

TenTen quickly looked up from the letter to see Lee getting ready to do just that. She was about to jump up and stop him when the boy noticed that there were air holes punched in the box. Ryu had left him something that was alive. Lee very gently opened the box.

"Oh!"

TenTen, Neji, and Guy went over to see what was in the box. It was a baby tortoise, happily munching on a small lettuce leaf that had been left in the box with him. Lee reached in and petted the shell.

"Aw! He's so cute!" TenTen said as she peered in.

The boy then very carefully scooped up the tiny reptile. The tortoise quickly pulled itself into it's shell. Lee held it up to his eyes, trying to look non-threatening.

"It's okay," he coaxed. "I won't hurt you."

It timidly came out, and TenTen looked to Neji.

"What did you get?" she asked him.

He held up a beaded necklace. Every bead had a different symbol on it.

"She says it's supposed to bring good fortune," he said, sounding like he didn't really believe her claims. "But I don't know about that..."

Lee looked over at her. "What about you, TenTen? What did she leave you?"

TenTen finally picked up her box, and opened it. She let out a shriek of joy when she saw what was in it. A pair of gleaming red chakram had been carefully packed into the box. She took them out and held them up.

"Look, look, look!!" she nearly shouted.

The chakram earned an impressed "Ooh." from the trio of boys. She started to immediately practice with them, trying to figure out how they worked and which way they spun best. Guy watched his students reminisce about their friend in their own way. He was going to miss her too.

But in the letter she had left him a promise to write to all of them, and tell them when she expected to come back. She promised it wouldn't be long.



**Final Author's Note:** TA-DAH!! The end!! Well, that's it for this story, thanks for sticking around, folks! And now for the title and preview of the next Ryu Akihara story, Letters From Suna. I hope you guys have fun with the extras I left too!


	30. Preview and Extras

Letters From Suna

**Letters From Suna**

**Welcoming**

**G**aara sat in his office, looking at the mess of papers on his desk. He had only been kazekage for about a month now, and already the papers were starting to pile up. Rin, his secretary, was still helping him get organized, but he didn't feel like she was helping much. There were still about twenty plus papers scattered around his desk from yesterday so he started in on those. He scanned over the first five, finding them to be passport and temporary citizenship forms.

He noticed they had pictures in the corners as he looked at the one on top of them all. Funny, why did this guy look familiar? Brown floppy hair... Glasses... He looked to the last name.

Masuda.

He blinked. He then quickly looked to the first name. Yuri. He started to go through the pile more fervently, and came up with another permission paper with a picture of a young boy with yellow colored eyes and black hair wearing a bucket hat. Okay, that was one, but where was she?

He went through all the papers from the day before then started in on the pile that was for today. He got to the bottom of all forty-five papers and then slumped back in his chair. She wasn't there.

Ryu Akihara wasn't among the list of archeologists, demonologists, interns, guards, and college students that were coming to Suna. He then noticed the mail in another pile, and saw that the letter on top was from Ryu herself. A small lump of disappointment situated in himself as he opened the letter, expecting a message from her explaining why she wasn't coming with her guardian, most likely saying that she was in a different area hunting demon spirits. After all, it was part of her job, right? Or maybe she was back in Konoha already, continuing her training.

But... He knew what she did was important to her, but he was starting to really miss her. He missed the girl he had fallen in love with. Letters were okay, but he wanted her in front of him. The couple of kisses shared on top of the temple were starting to grow cold in his memory. He wanted to kiss her _now_, not when she was finally able to get permission from the doctor to go back to Konoha or visit him in the village.

But what was on the letter completely blew him away. There were only two words in big, red letters.

**I'M COMING!!**

**Author's Note:** Yeah, I didn't want to spoil too much of the story... So! Now for the extras!! The thing you're about to read is the first story I started to use Ryu, called Walking On Air. Back then I was still trying to figure out how exactly Ryu got into the Naruto universe, and the story has changed SO MUCH since then! Kiba wasn't even in the story at all when I first thought it up! But, not even after had I nearly finished the second chapter, I got writer's block and couldn't finish the story. It was after this thought that I got inspiration for the White Wings of Darkness! - Ryu

**Walking On Air:** Original Concept for Ryu Akihara

**Memory Dream**

**G**aara stood in the sandy front yard of a house that wasn't his. A teddy bear was in his right hand. He was five. A girl with ragged blonde hair sat a few feet away from him, rocking a stuffed panda in her arms while humming a tune. She turned and smiled at him, and motioned him to come play with her.

He sat next to her and they started to play zoo. A few minutes of play had resulted in them giggling madly about something.

"Gaara," the girl said in a raspy voice. "We're going to be friends forever, right?"

He smiled at her, almost too fiercely. "Yup!"

The girl laughed aloud, and they started to chase each other. Something made them stop, he didn't remember what. He looked and saw several men coming towards the house. He recognized a few from the Black Ops. masks they were wearing. But why were they coming here?

"Gaara,"

He looked up and saw his uncle standing over him.

"It's time to go."

His uncle took him by the hand as he said goodbye to her. It was a few seconds later that he realized he had left his bear there. A quick tug and he was running back, ignoring his uncle's shouts. He stopped dead as he neared the house, and quickly hid behind a tree. The men that had been coming before were fighting with her father, but a wind sword quickly cut him down as her mother was dragged, screaming, from the house. The girl, unwillingly being held by one of the Black Ops., screamed and cried. His uncle was suddenly there, and pulling him quickly away.

"Uncle! Stop them!!" he pleaded. "They're going to hurt Ryu!"

His uncle hesitated. "I'm sorry," he said, his eyes avoiding Gaara's. "There's nothing I can do."



**G**aara woke with a start. He was breathing hard as that memory would forever disturb him. He still remembered everything about those murders clear as crystal. Every rumor attached to how the Black Ops. had found a Sound spy and that every man around him had been killed before he himself had died. That he didn't understand as he had seen Ryu's father killed, and his uncle had been friends with her mother for almost twenty years.

It seemed that that violent act had set everything off. The next day he had killed that man, and then his uncle had tried to assassinate him. His small, five year old world had been shattered in two days. Another question that still lingered in his mind, and haunted his heart: Had he been the cause of Ryu's and her family's death just by being associated them? He wished he knew.

He sighed as he looked out his open window at the moon. Both him and Ryu had been born outcasts. Him with the wind demon stuffed inside him, and her with Echo Syndrome. Echo Syndrome... It caused the inflicted's voice to steadily fade away. By the time Ryu had been five, her voice sounded as if she was perpetually recovering from severe strep throat. He forced the memories of learning sign language along with her away, and lied back down in bed. He turned his back on the moon and tried to go back to sleep.



**T**he echoing melody of a flute wafted through the forest around the road that led to the Village Hidden Among the Leaves. Under a different view of the moon, a girl with ragged blonde hair sat under a tree playing a familiar tune on her flute. A sack was tied to a quarter staff near her as was a small panda bear. It jingled softly as the wind blew by. A curved, sideways, green triangle with two dots above it was under her right eye.

She sighed as she leaned her head back on the tree. She had been contemplating the past and the life she had been, and still was, running from. A black bandanna with the symbol of the Sand Village slashed through showed it to the world. She gave the moon one final song before lying down to sleep.

**Ryu To The Rescue**

**G**aara was walking around town, trying to find the store that Temari had told him about. She had been in a hurry this morning and had asked him to do some grocery shopping for her. They just needed some bread and milk, and he was just trying to find the grocery store. As much as he ran around on his own in the village, he had no clue where anything really was. He didn't really pay attention to signs.

He was about to turn a corner and look elsewhere when he heard a woman scream. He quickly turned around, trying to locate where the sound had come from, and saw a crowd quickly forming near a tall building. He ran over, and tried to see what was wrong. A woman stood apart looking both horrified and skyward. He followed her gaze and saw a child on the high rooftop. The boy looked terrified as he clung to a lightning rod.

"Izu, how did you get up there?!" the woman cried.

"I-I used a justu! But I can't come down! Momma, help me!"

With that the child started to cry, both in fright and self-pity. The woman looked around fretfully. A sound like bouncing wire reached Gaara's ears and he looked to the side. A girl, maybe about his age, was running across a telephone wire to the panicked child. But what made the world seem like it had stopped was the fierce familiarity between this girl and what Ryu would of looked like if she had lived.

She could practically be her twin. What if it actually _was _her? _She can't be, _Gaara sternly told himself. _Ryu died seven years ago. _He watched, still partially frozen where he stood, as the girl jumped onto the roof and neared the freaked kid. He saw the black bandanna tied around her lower calf sported a slashed through Sand symbol. She was banished. Now the score was even between Real Ryu and Coincidence. The girl kneeled down to look into the boy's face and smiled friendly-like then, to Gaara's heart's dismay, _signed_ to him, "Do you want me to get you down?"

Gaara felt for sure he was going to have a heart attack right there in the street. Hek, chest pain was already spiking around the aforesaid area. The world started to swim a bit as he recognized the small panda bear that hung from her quarterstaff. _Holy hell, it __**is**__ her!_ he thought, feeling number by the second. But the world did not dip into darkness nor did his consciousness as he continued to watch the scene that was shattering his reality.

She took out a small white board from her sack and wrote on it with a marker. The boy nodded frantically.

"Yes! Get me down!!" he begged.

She picked him up gently, and walked down the roof. She then jumped off the building, a small gasp rising from the crowd, but she landed softly on the ground as if the air had become softer just for her. The mother dashed forward, taking the child from her.

"Thank you so much," she said. "I was afraid he'd never come down!"

The girl smiled, and signed, "It's okay."

Gaara pushed his way through the dispersing crowd, the small catastrophe over. The mother looked a bit surprised.

"I'm sorry, are you deaf?" she asked while touching her own ears. The girl, or Ryu as Gaara was now completely convinced, shook her head and touched her throat.

"Oh... Thank you again. Is there anything I can do for you?"

Ryu made a gesture with her hands as a sign of refusement. She nodded her head, and then walked away. Gaara, suddenly hesitant, waited a moment before going after her. He couldn't help but stop again and bite his lip as he reached out to tap her on the shoulder. He then threw his hesitation and nerves to the wind as he reached out and tapped her on the shoulder.

She turned around, and her eyes went as wide as the shape allowed them. He stood still in front of her as he watched what had been going through him moments before happen to her. Except Ryu actually fell over.

"Ryu!" he exclaimed. He bent toward her, and fanned her.

After a moment, her eyelids twitched, and her eyes opened drowsily. The same wide-eyed reaction to seeing his face above her's occurred, but not as extreme. She struggled to her feet, Gaara helping when he thought it was necessary. She looked at him, and shakily signed his name.

"Yes, it's me," he said. "Is it really you, Ryu?"

She slowly nodded, a smile dawning on her face. She suddenly hugged him. He stood for a moment, in shock, then lightly hugged her back. She signed to him, her eyes gleaming wetly, "I missed you so much!"

"Me too," he said. "But... How did you get here? How are you-"

Frantic signing that called for silence, and the anxiety on her face stopped his questions.

"We can't talk about that here," she signed. "Even walls have ears."

He looked around at the high walls on either side of them. He didn't really-wait! It had been a glimmer of a person, but it had been a person all the same. He motioned to her to follow him. They walked around the village, Gaara finally found the grocery store, and Ryu helped him carry the bags back to the apartment.

They reached the door, and Gaara thought he heard the sound of running water.

"Wait here," he said to Ryu, and he opened the door.

"Hey," greeted Temari as he put his bags on the table.

"You didn't tell me where the store was," he said. He then saw she was washing the dishes.

"I didn't? Sorry, I thought you knew where it was." she said. He turned from the table.

"Temari, do you remember Ryu?"

"...Ryu? ...You mean that girl you used to play with when you were little?"

"Yeah,"

"Yes, I remember her. Wasn't she killed because her dad was a Sound spy?"

Gaara couldn't help but flinch at that comment. Temari turned to look at him, a small stack of plates in her hands to put away.

"Why do you ask?" she said. He walked over to the door and opened it.

Ryu stood there expectantly, still holding the bags Gaara had given to her. At the sight of her, Temari dropped the plates, her eyes and mouth wide open.

"Because she's not dead," he answered.

"I can see that, Gaara,"

Konkuru hurried into the room.

"What happened? I thought I heard- Holy shit!!"

He cried the last sentence as he had almost bumped into Ryu as she put her bags on the table next to Gaara's. He looked her up and down, a look of exasperation on his face as she looked back at him blankly.

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?!" he nearly shouted. Gaara glared daggers at him.

"Do you have to be so loud?" he said, slightly annoyed.

"I didn't think I'd get this kind of reaction," Ryu signed to him. Temari looked at him in question.

"What did she say?" she asked.

"She said she didn't think she'd get such a reaction,"

"Well, when someone you've thought that's been dead for seven years is suddenly standing in your doorway, it's pretty shocking." Temari said in her defense.

"No kidding," said Konkuro.

Ryu looked a bit anxiously around them, and then at the open porch doors. She tapped Gaara on the shoulder and signed quickly to him.

"I know you're excited to see Ryu alive," said Gaara to his brother and sister. "But she and I have a lot to talk about, and most of it's really important. Do you think you could leave us alone for a while?"

Konkuro was about to protest when Temari lightly stepped on his toe.

"Sure," she said over his muffled reaction. "Take all the time you need."

"Thanks,"

He motioned Ryu to follow him and they both went into his room. Konkuro looked at Temari, none too pleased.

"What was that for? You actually think it's safe to leave those two alone?" he said a bit accusingly.

"I trust Gaara," said Temari, going back to the dishes that were dry. "But believe me Konkuro, if Ryu's alive it means trouble for all of us. It's best that he finds out from her then from us."

Konkuro sat down. "And if she doesn't tell him?"

"Then we'll tell him. Gently."

"Gently? How can you tell someone gently about all that?!"

Temari sighed. "I'll figure something out. But right now, we'll just have to wait and see if she tells him herself."

Meanwhile, in Gaara's room, Ryu busied herself by poking her head out of his open window before closing it. She then walked over to his closet, and quickly opened it. She looked a bit in there, even though there wasn't much, then closed that as well. She gave the room one more look before actually sitting down. Gaara had watched all this with increasing unease.

Why was she doing all of this?

"Ryu," he said, addressing the matter quickly. "Is someone after you?"

She bit her lip before nodding her head. "Who?" he asked while sitting across from her.

She shook her head and then started to sign.

"I don't really know myself," she signed. "They've been following me for a couple of months now, and I've only caught glimpses of them. Black hair. Pale skin. Strange eyes."

"Why are they after you?"

"That I don't know either. But I do think he's just trying to catch me. You wouldn't believe how many traps I've had to get out of while coming here."

Gaara fell silent for a moment, thinking. There were two people he could think of who fit that description. One was completely out of the question, and the other... He really hoped that wasn't who was after her. He sighed before beginning the questions he had tried to ask earlier.

"How did you get here in the first place?" he asked. "Like Konkuro said, you're supposed to be dead. What happened?"

"I walked," she signed. "And sometimes I ran."

Gaara rolled his eyes as she looked at him sheepishly. "You know what I mean, Ryu."

The look faded, and was replaced by... something else. Emptiness maybe. Or was it despair? Gaara couldn't tell as her gaze drifted to the window. She looked for a while before sighing.

"Do you really want to know what happened seven years ago?" she asked.

"Yes,"

She closed her eyes as a look of total depression became her. He looked at her, a little concerned, but then stopped himself. Both her parents had been killed; it was natural for her to feel like this while telling him.

"You heard the rumors about how everyone, including my mom and dad, had been found dead, right?"

"Yes, they were everywhere the day... after."

He had almost said the day after he had killed the child, but had stopped himself. She could learn about his horrific past later. Hers was more important right now.

"I guess the first thing you must know is..." she signed. "That I wasn't just born with Echo Syndrome."

He gave her a curious look as she now looked troubled.

"When I was born, the doctor found marks on my back he couldn't explain. My mom told me they looked like tiger stripes with sketches of feathers on my shoulder blades. So they asked a sooth sayer to come to the house. She didn't even need to see my back to tell my parents what was wrong with me."

She hesitated, not really looking at him. He waited patiently, but the foreboding aura around them wouldn't leave. She then looked at him pitifully before signing.

"I was born with the spirit of the Winged Tiger inside me."

Gaara had to stop himself from gasping, but his eyes did become larger. The Winged Tiger... It was one of the legends of the Sand Village. The gods, angered by man's arrogance and abuse toward them, sent a winged tiger to pass judgment on them all. The tiger had killed thousands before the gods decided that mankind had paid enough, but the tiger had disagreed.

It refused to come back, and continued to kill until one of the gods himself came down to bring her back. The end of the story had been lost for years, and many endings had been supplied. Some were happy, others were sad, but the return of the Winged Tiger lingered in most of them. He guessed it was the Sand Village's form of the Apocalypse. But he never believed any of it.

"So... What happened?" he said, even though he felt he shouldn't of asked.

Ryu bit her bottom lip as it began to tremble. She looked at him, her eyes filled with sadness. Why? Her lips then moved instead of her hands and he heard her voice, soft as ash and almost non-existent. But he heard her.

"I killed them," she said, guilt dripping from every word. "Gaara, I killed every one of them."

She gave him a look of guilt and pleading. "I didn't want to, but I did. I'm sorry, Gaara. I'm so sorry..."

Her voice faded as did her composition. She dissolved into silent tears, her body shaking as her vocal cords struggled to make something of a sound. She looked at him through wet lashes, her eyes begging forgiveness.

"I didn't want to kill them," she whispered as she held herself. "But I couldn't stop it. It just took over. I was so angry and scared, and it just... It exploded.

"It wanted blood. It wanted to kill them all for what they had done. It wanted them to suffer for wanting to kill me. My parents had nothing to do with it, and it wanted them to die for killing them. Oh, Gaara, it was horrible, all the blood..."

She closed her eyes while her nails made long, white lines in her skin from holding herself too hard. Gaara sat there in front of her, feeling sorry for both him and her. He knew what she was going through. He knew all of it. He reached for her, but she moved away from his hands. She looked both pitiful and numb at the same time.

"But that's not all," she said as much as her voice allowed. "When it was done, and everyone was dead, it... It was happy. And so was I. It-I liked it."

She looked at him, the numbness overcoming the grief. "Gaara, I liked killing them all. Oh God..."

Her voice cracked and was no longer there as the tears came again. She let her head fall into her arms. She shook all over, violently sometimes as Gaara sat in front of her, feeling number then he had ever felt. He then reached forward, and brought her closer. He held her to him, her body shaking as he wrapped his arms around her.

"It's okay, " he said. "It's alright, Ryu. Everything's okay."

"Gaara," she croaked. " what am I?"

She looked up at him, her face wet. He looked back at her.

"You're Ryu." he said firmly. "You're my friend, and nothing is going to change that. Ever."

"Never?"

"Never. I told you we'd be friends forever."

Ryu pulled away from him, and inched back to where she had been sitting. She wiped her eyes with her palms then began to sign again.

"You remember that?" she asked. He nodded his head.

She gave him a weak smile. "So, you're not going to throw me out or anything?"

"No!"

The smile grew. "Good. I'm glad."

"So, is that why the Blacks Ops. came that day?" he asked.

"Yes. They came to kill me. Although my dad was from the Sound Village."

"I know. Everybody knew. Why they decided to use that as a cover-up, I'll never understand."

They both fell silent for a while, Gaara working up the courage to tell her what had happened to him, and Ryu resuming her watch of the window. It seemed she was slightly paranoid about whoever was following her. Gaara cleared his throat.

"Do you... want to know what's happened to me?" he asked. She nodded her head, an expectant look in her eyes.

"Well, the day after you...uh...died, I... killed a man."

He waited for a reaction, but only her eyes widened a bit.

"It was the wind spirit, wasn't it?" she signed. He looked away from her.

"In a way. I didn't know how to control it, and I squeezed too hard. I didn't mean to kill him." he said rather quickly in a defensive explanation. The sadness returned in her eyes but as severe as before. She could relate.

"Then my uncle tried to kill me."

This brought a reaction as she put a hand to her mouth in shock. He looked back at her.

"But... He loved you!" she signed. "How could he want to kill you?!"  
He gave her a wane smile. "Yeah... Pretty sick, huh? He basically did it for both my mom and me. He said that it would never be possible for anyone to love me because of what was inside me."

Ryu looked absolutely horrified.

"Don't worry, it gets worse," he said. This only seemed to increase her anxious expression. "After a while, my dad started sending assassins after to me to try and kill me. Then, I guess you could say, I lost my mind. I found a purpose, since it seemed I had none in order to live, in killing. I made it my life's mission to kill people."

He gave her tiny smile at her huge eyes.

"But... I don't really like to think about- Oof!"

At that single moment, Ryu had thrown herself at him. She was hugging him tightly, and he couldn't really move.

**Author's Note:** And that was as far as I got! These next few things are scenes I either had to cut out due to length issues or because I felt they didn't go with the story very well. But I'm a pack rat even on my computer so I decided to save everything! I throw comments in before each one, so bear with me. I know, I need to shut-up, but I can't can't! I'm opinionated!! Anyway, the first scene is a scene I had to cut out of "How Hard It Is To Say 'Sorry'" since this was back when I still had to print out everything and then re-type it on a different computer so I could upload the chapter onto the site. To have it make sense, all you have to do is stick it in-between where Al walks into Akumaru's yard. It goes right in!

He (Akumaru) then looked up as he heard a rustling in the bushes. An orange tabby cat came through and looked around the yard. The puppy was about to jump up and start chasing it when he saw it was Al.

_Hey! _The cat meowed to him as he bounded over. _I've got an idea to stop this nonsense if you wanna listen!!_

_Al!!_ Akumaru jumped up and pounced on the cat.

Al meowed loudly in protest. _Get off me, you great big goofball!! I'm here to talk serious._

Akumaru completely ignored him and licked him on the side of the head. _Who cares?! I missed you! _He then calmed down and sat down.

Al rubbed his head with a paw, trying to dry the wet side of his head.

_It's nice to see you too, but I'm here to talk about Ryu and Kiba,_ he said as he did this.

Akumaru sighed. _I know... We've got to get them to make up somehow... How's Ryu anyway?_

Al lied down on the grass. _Not too good... Ever since the fight, she hasn't been able to concentrate one bit on her studies. She's a complete wreck. What about Kiba?_

_Well, aside from becoming completely antisocial, I'd say he was fine. _ Akumaru gave a dog sigh. _This is just so dumb! If Kiba would just apologize..._

Al looked at the puppy. _He doesn't want to?_

_Oh no, he does. Kiba would do anything to apologize, he's just afraid Ryu will bite his head off if he tries... _

_What? She wouldn't do that. Ryu's been waiting for Kiba to show up so she can tell him something._

Both animals looked at one another. _Okay, you're right. This is dumb. _Al said. _So, how can we get them to meet up with one another? That's all that needs to happen, or so it seems to me..._

Akumaru thought for a moment. He then busied himself with scratching an ear.

_Um... Do you and Ryu go for walks? _he asked before turning to bite a harassed hip. What the hek was crawling on him?!

_Once in a while. Why? What do you have in mind? _

Akumaru finished attacking the invading insects, and turned back to his friend.

_Well, Kiba and me go for a walk around seven. If they bump into each other, they'll have to say something to one another. You can smell me, right?_

Al cocked his head at him. _...Yes, but I don't see what your body odor has to do with... Oh, right... _The cat tried to recover his pride while washing a paw.

_Um... So, seven, right? _Akumaru smiled at him.

_Yup. Either I'll find you, or you'll find me._

_Okay, see you tonight._

The cat went bounding into the bushes to relieve a stressed Raikera. Akumaru went back inside. He didn't think he'd bother Kiba anymore, he seemed to be guilt-tripping himself at the moment. All he would have to do was make sure they went for their usual walk around seven.

Al came back to find Ryu asleep on her books. She had studied herself to sleep. So he had let her sleep a few hours before pouncing on her. Raikera helped in getting their mistress to be active again, though she didn't know exactly why they were doing this. Until Al told her.

**Author's Note:** The next scene was a scene I had to scrap from Awakenings: Part One. I was trying to figure out how Kabuto and Sasuke kidnapped Ryu. So I started writing, and I really liked the idea of Ryu fighting back a lot, but then I realized that I was making the scene too drawn out and wasn't focusing on the actual kidnapping anymore. So I changed it into what it is now in the story. You'll notice that the scene all of a sudden stops too. That's because I usually have epiphanies while I'm writing and will just cut them immediately and start writing the scene over. I kept a lot of the lines and incidents in the real story though...

**"...S**o that's why I'm going. What about you?" Ryu asked Sasuke.

"Same reason. My parents have been dead a long time." he said. She looked sympathetically at him.

"That sucks. How old were you?"

"Well, aren't you chivalrous."

The voice came from above and the they both stopped and looked up. Kabuto had his arms folded, leaning against the trunk of the tree he was standing in. He straightened up and walked to the middle of the branch.

"Here I was thinking you were just going to smack her over the head and drag her here to me." he said.

"What?" Ryu looked at Sasuke, and finally saw the curse mark on his neck.

She gasped and started to run in the other direction. "N-no! Stay away from me!!"

Kabuto jumped down right in front of her, ready to grab her.

"Sorry, you're not going anywhere, Ryu Akihara." he said with a smile.

She whirled around, Al growling at the both of them next to her, his fur on end. Sasuke put a hand on a hip.

"And where exactly would you go anyway? We're in the middle of nowhere." he asked her.

Ryu looked at him for a moment, then smiled.

"Why, up of course!"

She grabbed Al faster then they could blink and shot herself in the air. She turned in the air, the signature swirls of cloud gathering around her ankle, and started to fly back towards the village. Kabuto looked to Sasuke.

"He didn't say anything about her flying!!"

"Don't look at me! You're the one with the crossbow!"

Kabuto growled as he started to run after her. "Go and tell Lord Orichimaru what's happened. I'll bring her back!" he shouted to Sasuke as he did.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He had known this whole mission had been a mistake. Why did they need to restock the prison laboratories anyway? But Lord Orochimaru had said she wasn't for that... Then what was she for?

Kabuto took the crossbow off his back, and pushed himself to run faster. She was really fast, and she knew she was being followed. She zigzagged across the sky as he tried to aim an arrow at her.

**Author's Note:** Okay, this is the last extra, I promise! This was back when I was starting to write the final exam battles and I got serious writer's block when it came to the fights. So I did what I always do when I get writer's block: I free-wrote until I got an idea. Free writing is when you just start writing, non-stop, whatever comes into your head, and then stop after a certain amount of time. I usually give myself five minutes to write like crazy and then I stop to read all of what the hek I just wrote. When I was finished I thought what I had typed was kinda funny. Plus, I thought it might be cool for you guys to see how I think.

Okay, um... Starts with Gaara who's looking around for Ryu because she's late to the final rounds... Or Kiba maybe? ... Dunno, Ryu's late, so they start the matches... Sara had to leave because the Turtle was acting up too much so Kiba's battle gets bumped up... Saphira and Ikara fight... Saphira wins? Traps her with water and electrocutes herself!! Or something like that... Hair... Um... Sakura and Hinata fight and Ryu still hasn't shown up... Gaara and Kiba are getting antsy when Kiba gets called down to fight Aki... Gaara tells Kiba he'll go get Ryu. Shows up at Ryu's house and finds her completely asleep with books and ink everywhere. He wakes her up, she gets dressed and they run to the arena in time to see Kiba getting his ass kicked. New outfit for Ryu!! Aki developed a new poison that attacks the nerves. Kiba's in a lot of pain. Ryu is torn between watching Gaara's match and staying by Kiba's side. Gaara tells her to look after Kiba. His match finishes quickly, mud, and Ryu gets called up. She tells Al and Raikera to stay with him. Kisses on forehead? Goes up and beats Hinata. "Whoo that was a rush!!" Gaara faces Aki with the burning intention to kill him, or at least maim him for what he did to Temari, but gets poisoned himself. Lose control?? Maybe. Ryu's angry!! Aki vs. Ryu match. Aki's poison works on Ryu near the end, causing the Tiger to come out a teensy bit. Scares him and then Ryu puts Aki on his ass. She wins and collapses from the poison.

I can't put this all into one chapter!! That's nuts! What was I thinking?? Uh... Two maybe?? One for beginning matches and then the other starts with Gaara going to go get Ryu... Pick Your Poison with second chapter... Uh... Ryu Akihara, Where Are You?! Missing Dragon? Missing Nin? ... Must think of title... The Absence of Wind?/ No, too melodramatic... TITLE?! kjkljkljkjjlkjljttychfhgfytcbvnbvjhgjuygtuyddchgfchg... Blegh, can't think... Okay! Got it!!

RYU?! WHERE ARE YOU?!- reread title, dummy

Pick Your Poison- Kiba+Gaara

Walking on Air- Ryu vs. Hinata

Quicksand- Gaara vs. Aki

To Catch a Tiger- Aki vs. Ryu

Hospital-

Of Birthday Cakes and Gravestones, Awakening- Orochimaru

The Turning of Hearts- Hospital stay 2

Until The Wind Changes- The End

**Author's Note:** And that is EXACTLY how it happened! And that's it! See you guys in the next story! I should have it started in about two weeks or so. I should warn you that it'll be relatively short, about ten chapters or so. But the story after the time-skip I'm planning on being longer. So, have a great summer guys! And good luck on final exams if you have anything!!

- Your Determined Author, Ryu Redwings


End file.
